Aagaaz-e-umeed…

I remember the first time I got to know about Aagaaz while I was working on my research project for my Bachelors’, on my screen. As far as I remembered, the screen showed only a few words, that it’s a theatre-based organisation started by Sanyukta Saha in 2015. On seeing this name, I got filled with feelings of pride, respect and love, as I was one of those students who got the opportunity to learn (and unlearn) a lot when she taught us in my Bachelors’. My very first interaction with Aagaaz’s work and with some of the members of Aagaaz was when I saw Bhagi Hui Ladkiyan, a play that dealt very well with everyday stories of oppression in a patriarchal society which goes unseen and therefore, the idea to make visible, to document, to make recognizable those everyday oppression(s) appealed to me even more. When one is facing that oppression, sitting on the other side of the stage, the play doesn’t merely resonate with you, but builds a solidarity between us (the ones who are on the stage and the ones who are on the other side of the stage), which I also felt when I met with Naghma, Nagina, Zainab and Jasmine (repertory members of Aagaaz) after the show.

I would say that these were only the very first ‘imprints’ of Aagaaz. The actual journey of my growth, learning (unlearning), myriad experiences with Aagaaz began only when San (whom we call Sanyukta ma’am out of love) took her ‘lost student’ to Khwāb Ghar (a space from where the wonderful works of the Aagaaz shape, re-shape, rehearse, reflect, connect…) and gave mea warm welcome with unforgettable words — “Welcome to our Aagaaz” on my first drama jam at Khwāb Ghar. Also, I would like to add here that those were the days when I was not merely lost in the streets of Nizamuddin Basti but also in my further ‘limited’ options about my career after my Bachelors’, surrounded by questions of financial independence, the opacity of the academic ‘raj’; a period of complete hopelessness. And, I am not exaggerating if I write that during those days, the only hope which came was from the drama jams held at Khwāb Ghar. At drama jams which were happening on alternate Sundays, we explored various games and activities starting from a quick ‘check-in’, where we shared our feelings like how we are feeling, thoughts that came in our mind while reaching to Khwāb Ghar for drama jam and so on and so forth. Similarly, we ended the drama jam with a brief reflection, which we called ‘Haal, Khyaal aur Sawaal’ in which we could again share our feelings after the games and activities we explored. The order of the activities were also very well-planned or suited for the energy level of our body and mind, always started with warm-up exercises, in which, through games, we got to know about each other a little bit. Anyone could volunteer for any game or activity, which he/she/they want to explore. Why I called drama jams a source of hope was that it was not only a space where one could share their ideas and thoughts without any fear of judgement and spend the first half of Sunday forgetting about the ongoing challenges in their life, but also because this space always reminded me of the sense of community and solidarity, immensely gratifying friendships, recognition and honour. Seeing people coming from different areas (not only geographical but work, interest, social and cultural) on every alternate Sunday, meeting, talking, playing, exploring together was one of those experiences which could only be seen on paper but rarely in practice, which only remained ‘utopian’ until I got the opportunity to experience it at Aagaaz.

Another show by Aagaaz was Rihla, which mesmerized me when I went to ‘experience’ it at the Lilanoor Centre. From imagining the various ‘ideals’ of a country to exploring, travelling, dancing, laughing together, the play left me with this question or statement of the play — “Mujhe ek aisa desh chahiye…” and again with feelings of pride, joy, respect and love… Based on this play itself, Rihla, San benevolently offer me the opportunity to participate in the Aagaaz’s project Rihla, supported by the Azim Premji Foundation, where a lot of reflection, learning (not only theoretical, but practical), thinking ‘out-of-box’, analyzing from different lenses, sharing of ideas happen, which couldn’t be possible without the efforts made by San, Alia and Subhadra in conducting these workshop series and inviting practitioners from different fields with whom meaningful and engaging workshops happened. I remember I would only be able to join after two to three workshop days, but the members and the space never let me feel I was ‘missing something’, which I think is what Lev Vygotsky called ‘peer learning’ (one of the aspects of the peer learning, I experienced). Attending these whole day workshops is an unmatched experience for me. From making a short film in a group to exploring outside spaces such as parks and interaction with people, these workshop sessions, I would say, provided me the opportunities for ‘experiential learning’, which I could only have gotten at Aagaaz.

Recently, I joined as a volunteer for the ‘Shaam Ki Library’, one of the ‘radical’ initiatives by Aagaaz to provide a space for the children of the community to read, write and play at Khwāb Ghar. Seeing books in the hands of the young faces other than textbooks without any fear of examination/test in itself is one of those rare experiences which I am delightfully experiencing at the Shaam Ki Library at Khwāb Ghar.

One of my professors always said that “language corrupts the experience” even despite some of its own criticisms, and the statement sometimes resonates with me and the experiences with Aagaaz are in those ‘sometimes’! Even though I tried my best to recollect all my memories and experiences with Aagaaz and put them here, there are many, many, many more learning(s) and experiences which I had with Aagaaz, and I look forward to many more to come. Writing this reminded me of Riya, how she was before entering Khwāb Ghar in her hopeless days and how San and Aagaaz brought hope(s) into her life…