Initially, the mentoring programme at Aagaaz arose from a need to bridge academic gaps that our adolescents in Nizamuddin were facing. We decided that there was a need for one-on-one connections to make this more beneficial and sustainable.
Later we re-designed the programme to look at needs that go beyond the academic. We realized that there was a need for a deeper relationship that could act as a learning space for both the mentor and the mentee. Currently, we have 20 professionals from diverse academic and professional backgrounds working with the young actors on their various areas of need and interest. These include script writing, theatre direction, music, art, emotion management, language and mathematics, and more. True to the vision of Aagaaz, we are creating a forum for reflection, dialogue, and learning for our lovely mentors as well. Together, we are exploring notions of working with young people, and its relationship to their idea of self and the world.
One of our Mentors Anirban has been working quite regularly with Shahid on music. Recently, they co-hosted a workshop that introduced the participants to songs, passing games and folk melodies from across the country. They played these folk melodies using stuff that we use on a daily basis – utensils, jars, pulses etc and helped the participants connect to the forms in a fun manner. “It went well, although we could have done a lot more, but since this was our first workshop together and we had limited time, we could only do two folk songs. We started with the history of the songs, then did a small session on familiarizing the participants with the homemade instruments”- Anirban, February 2017