On the 14th of December, Gyaan Adab invited over 40 children for a film screening and creative activity.
Gyaan Ruchi, Gyaan Adab’s sister organization, brought in the kids from various areas across Pune.
Kicking off the programming for the Heroine’s Journey, an arts festival, the screening was of Makdee, a 2002 comedic horror film in Hindi, that tells the story of a young girl from a village fighting against monsters and evil forces in society.
Makdee follows the plot of Chunni, a young girl in north India and her encounter with an alleged witch in an old mansion in the locality, believed by the locals to be haunted.The screening was preceded by a small introduction by team members, Luv Mahtani and Hina Siddiqui, wherein they explained to the children the concept of heroes, and how they can come from any- and everywhere.
As the opening credits of the film began, the children’s excitement was tangible, like the scent of summer days and memories of playing in the sun. Their gleeful yelps and laughter echoed in space during funny dialogues, and some were quite frightened by Shabana Azmi’s portrayal of the witch in the film.
After treating the children to a snack at the end of the screening, they were brought back in for an art activity being conducted by artist Bhagyashree Parchure.
As she began to explain to the children the importance of having a woman in the house, and the roles they play in the lives of their children, we could see a newfound appreciation for their mothers well with the tears in their eyes. Teaching them how to make origami cranes was a joy; they took to instruction without hesitation and had their own paper cranes in hand by the end of the activity. Personal notes to their own mothers were encapsulated in the folds of paper, and were collected to create an installation that will be put up in Gyaan Adab.
The energy of the children being in space was infectious, and was a great start to a week’s worth of programming of The Heroine’s Journey to wrap up the year with.
