Time flew. I simply could not hold on to it.
When I thought about an 11-3 workshop, I confess I did think, “Hmm. There’ll definitely be parts where I’m bored.”
I was wrong.
Travelling from my school in Loni to British Library on Fergusson College Road, I realised for the first time why all the residential staff at my school thinks of ‘going to Pune’ as such a big deal. By the time I reached the library, I felt sticky and irritable, as one does after a long and rather tiresome journey.
I definitely was not in the mood for an over-enthusiastic shedding of inhibitions that I assumed would be associated with a storytelling workshop.
But Nell Phoenix created that mood. In slow steps, she guided us from being polite, formal listeners, sitting poised on wooden chairs to becoming active participants, relaxing on the carpet and using our entire bodies to tell stories.
Nell Phoenix is astounding as an individual, as a story-teller and as inspiration. Energy pulsed through the room as we talked, thought, shared and laughed. Never before have I found myself so much at ease with a group so quickly, sharing stories and ideas with a level of comfort that could come only because somewhere within us, each of us has a whole storehouse of stories to share.
The only time I felt remotely shy or awkward was when I wanted her contact details. “What on earth can I possibly say to someone of her calibre? How can I think of keeping in touch?”
But I did exchange contact details with her. Maybe I’ll just hold on to her little visiting card for the time being.
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