Depth speaks volumes. I recently came across two different TED Talks. 

The first one - "Taking Imagination Seriously" is about using unconventional materials (like fishnet) to create one of a kind sculpture that never existed before. It is by Janet Echelman and can be watched here. The video is worth watching. I really love her approach towards urban sculpture, adoption of unusual concepts to achieve it and her capability to visualize how nature's elements like (wind) will interact with her creations!

The second one is about taking a different approach to listening by doing it with your whole body. It is by Evelyn Glennie and can be watched here. Not until very late in the whole video do we realize that it is being given to us by someone who cannot hear (in our traditional sense of hearing via ears)! How about a deep and compassionate representation of listening from someone learnt it the "different" way. She is fantastic in her depth and worth watching.

Now, why am I sharing these examples here? We tend to go through our life not realizing how important depth is! We want to do too many things at the same time, excel at several competitions and win every race in life. We impose these on our kids too - a lot of post school activities to attend, a very competitive school to go to, all kinds of sports activities to participate in and not to forget, all possible summer camps! 

What we don't realize is the biggest, largest and most impactful changes in this world are created by people who knew how to do a few things really, really well. They were deep in their approach to their passion in life and pursued it singled-mindedly. What would you like to be known for?

Every session we have had shy children the parents have come in and specifically told us, "Please take care of them", and hesitantly added, "not sure how they will respond!" At the end of the sessions, we have had many a teary eyed parent eagerly wanting to know all about their child's responses because we would typically have not one, not two but several instances of the child opening up, sharing and willingly participating in activities!

They have wanted to know how we got them to respond so well, share and participate! I think the recipe for it is as profound as it is simple. The key is to acknowledge that they matter and their opinion matters. Like I said earlier, it is as simple as it sounds and as profound as it gets. In a world where we have ranks, performance curves, grades and where having the right answer matters, the children who think different go silent, a child who tends to process information in a different manner than the norm will go silent and the shy types who would rather be in their heads than share thoughts with others, will also go silent. There are quite a few other types, but these are the three main categories. 

Our sessions focus and celebrate differences among children's thinking styles. It is good to be different. If we are not all different then we will create a world of clones and it won't be fun, it won't be productive. In the process, the shy one's open up, the ones that process differently tell us how and what they are thinking and since, there is never one right answer, the sky is the limit for sharing one's ideas and perspective. Most times, the ideas keep spurting on discussions and topics already covered, even as we move on to newer territories!

As the schools gates reopen and the children rush in to learn, play and grow, a question remains. This is an enigma that I've not been able to wrap my head around so far - why the mad rush to blend in and be one amongst the crowd? Why do we want each child to be like the other child? Why do we want everyone to fare well to the same parameters? 

I have thought about this long and hard and here is a food for thought...what if, we as a society, each individual in it, decides that our strengths and individuality matters? That we need to stand up and embrace our diversity of thoughts, forms and ideas, rather than blend in? What will happen if we decide to be different rather than comply to be the same?

As children join and start school this academic year, we will do our bit to create thinking, unique individuals in this society so they learn to embrace their uniqueness and contribute in ways that are diverse and rich in their own ways back to the society. Our regular weekend programs will start by end of June and beginning of July. It will comprise of three modules - Creative & Critical Thinking, Decision Making & Values and Communication & Interpersonal Skills.

The registrations will open in a few days and more details will be up on the website soon! So do revisit soon!!!