JAIPUR communication workshop_Minutes of meeting

With a hope in my heart and smile on my face, I boarded the train for Jaipur to attend the communication workshop organised by TISA. A fear of the unknown was there too, which just vanished when I saw fellow PWS at the station, all of us moving towards the common journey. The workshop kick-started with a warm welcome by Soumya, Sachin sir and team Jaipur. A quick introduction round, the one we as PWS dread so much, and we came to know the participants. The rules for the workshop were clear and well defined, smile, even during stammering, do not advice others, clap and cheers for the speaker, take care of the time. We practiced bouncing and prolongation, while giving our introduction and again and again, till we stopped fearing speaking out name. Well, that was a relief. We also conducted mock interviews with a list of questions in hand, with our workshop partners and carefully examined the communication pattern of the partner. Then we provided our feedback and then, roles were reversed. A completely fruitful exercise and with the feedback, we came to know our strengths and weaknesses. A delicious lunch and we moved on to our 'Thanks-giving' session. More often,we forget to give thanks and show gratitude to many things that we benefit from, in life, well, this session just made the day. We wrote things we are thankful for, in our lives and we realized many reasons to celebrate life. A quick tea break and we moved on to our outdoor activity. Central park in Jaipur made our evening. With the questionnaire in our hands, we went on to stop strangers and chat with them (politely, of course with Sachin sir acting as mediator, I must say, he knows how to convince someone to stop and chat). Many agreed to discuss with us about stammering, and many politely declined, which we took in a very healthy spirit and moved on. Each member must have talked to 11-12 strangers and all were very excited, which was evident in the later debriefing section, in which everybody shared their experiences of 'stranger talk' activity and were beaming with confidence. This was followed by a lovely dinner. Jaipur greeted us with downpour which cheered our faces. We also listened to some beautiful sufi songs by a Rajasthani crew, which performed just for us. We went on to enjoy our icecream's and bhel's near 'Amar jawan jyoti'. The day ended with some clicks on Jaipur roadside.

Next day kick-started with parantha as a breakfast and tea. Our first session included an inspirational talk with Sachin sir. He also explained about a phenomena called 'valsalva' which was very interesting to know about. We discussed our experiences about the 'stranger talk' and discussed other ways by which we can approach strangers. Dhruv facilitated a session of 'SMART' goal setting, both for individual and respective city SHG's. We discussed and a representative from every city shared their goals for next 6 months or a year, which we will be followed up regularly. An evening tea did its job and we did some role plays. We also did dancing, thanks to Anuprita for the wave step she taught us. We did some other fun filled activities, sher o- shayari in the evening. A mock interbiew session was also conducted for many SSC/CGIL/IAS aspirants.

A good bye underwent and we concluded the workshop with some pictures. These two days made an impression on all of us, which was also a life changing experience. We wish to imply all the techniques we learned and follow all our goals.
As Lao Tzu said, 'The journey of a thousand miles begin with one step''. Keeping this in mind, we took our first step towards self improvement.