Expression and Freedom (E&F), a city-based creative academy will have Nagesh Kukunoor to launch its first ever poetry compilation by nine of its budding poets, titled Cronky Bronxton

“I don’t think anyone has the capacity to write like a child, they’re not tainted by any external influences, their minds are free,” says Insiyah Kirloskar, the mind behind Expression and Freedom (E&F), a city-based creative academy. The academy will launch its first ever poetry compilation by nine of its budding poets, titled Cronky Bronxton. The book will be released today by well-known director Nagesh Kukunoor.

Insiyah is a vibrant speech and drama teacher trained in the US. Like all her classes, the poetry project too was a spontaneous endeavour; she says, “Two years ago we started writing poems as a spontaneous experiment. During this period, I observed that the children had a unique perspective of the world around them and I was in awe of their remarkable ability to express themselves creatively and to write without any care.” It was then that along with nine of her students the poetry workshop began, and has since provided these kids with the space to expand their minds and pen their thoughts down.

At first, the students began experimenting with simple couplets, and it was not long before their work developed into brilliant poetry. Insiyah says, “My idea was – first let’s educate you, then you can adopt your own style and take things the way you want.” She encouraged them to explore topics close to their hearts, and at the same time not get bogged down if they couldn’t come up with one, she says, “Poetry doesn’t need a specific topic, it can be about anything – something that happened to you today, something you are feeling…” The outcome was a fantastic range of topics, from the imaginative ones about a Story-Saurus and a Pet Spider, to the profound, like Let me be and Nothing.

Since it was their first literary venture, she wanted it to be wonderful and wanted no outside involvement for the content, and so for the book’s artwork the kids were encouraged to visualise each of their poems through paintings, illustrations and collages. The result was a collection of brilliant stuff, stuff they had no idea they were capable of creating!

So what’s next on E&F’s agenda? “I strongly believe that speech and drama should be incorporated into regular school curriculum,” says Insiyah, who has already designed a teacher training module for educational institutions, where they can take creativity and the standard syllabus and put the two together. She feels that children aren’t often asked for their perspective on things, and providing them with an environment where they can express themselves freely is essential.

Through E&F, Insiyah aims to introduce one new product every year. The best part is the children seem to really enjoy and value their time here. Smriti, a senior student, feels, “E&F is fun and I love writing. It’s a break which clears my mind and after I’m through, I feel peaceful because I have done what I really wanted to do.”

Ishaan Rai/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication