Date: 23rd and 24th. August 2011.
Participants: Medical students at University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Facilitators: Radha Ramaswamy, Ramaswamy PS
Jagjit Khosla : Medical Student:  Anjali : Medical Student:  Dr. Satendra Singh : Faculty UCMS:  ....I am so glad that i was able to rope in medical students who were shy, itching out to do something new, and wanted to try new things. ...Credit must go to Radha too. I approached few under-performers as well and if they were able to perform brilliantly it was because of Radha -not me. They have mentioned it in the feedback and one of the participants from our sub-group excelled as Parkinson's protagonist in the Forum and, as he later revealed, it was his first ever stage performance.What have you done to our students Radha? I am convinced now that Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) can offer that (remove pressure off from students) . It's huge fun and there is no pressure ... we have to lift pressure off these kids. I strongly feel that MCI's (Medical Council of India) 2015 vision of first 2 months should be devoted to TO activities.Radha was phenomenonal.We all have our preconceived notions and it's not possible mostly to surrender ourselves to somebody else's command. She was perfect, hypnotized us and moreover where she excelled was when we had closed our eyes and she led us to our moments of conflict. Few students still backed out but they were still involved with the process (as later confirmed by feedback).These all underline the effectiveness of a great facilitator. Reading all the feedback from the medical students and now correlating retrospectively with the images participants created, I strongly feel you can use another form of Medical Humanities -Narrative Medicine, in documenting theses experiences anonymously. You must share the experiences.I personally feel using TO will be more beneficial tor students than descriptive modules. Silence is the most powerful tool and we saw silence speaking. This is what Medical Humanities is all about, this is what Medical Humanities should be. Something you feel strongly, something which comes naturally to you and something which is fun to do.... (Reproduced with permission) “ …while doing Image Theatre, all
of a sudden when I touched Dr Navjeevan’s feet, I felt great as if it was
something I ahd always wanted to do. Thanks TO.” Anjali “ there are things that we know, emotions that we feel but fail to acknowledge…like when we played Fainting by Numbers, we all want someone to be there to catch us when we fall……the feeling during Glass Cobra when your partner finds you and all the fear just goes away…” Anam Ghani “ my structured way of thinking prevented me to be [sic] spontaneous…the games brought that out...really liberating. TO should be more publicized so that its benefits can be used more. ” Pankaj Tiwari “ I learnt to be happy once again. I felt I could connect to people all around and I am not that oppressed either… the deepest fears and the deepest emotions, I could feel it. The most different experience in the bestest way possible for it filled me with energy and fire to do this all over again” “ a voyage of discovery” Dr Navjeevan Singh “ during this [MBBS] course of ‘Becoming as God” we lose our humility. This workshop actually helped me rehumanize myself.” Archana Kumari “I was a real shy girl before 2 days, who actually was not able to talk comfortably with the people around.But today, when I played my part in the Forum,it was a real turn out moment for me ( no matter how ridiculouys it was or how pathetically I acted !” archana kumari “…the introduction to Forum, the bus scene, was close to reality, but ‘not real’. But I acted out and got a few tricks how to behave and act in such situations.” Anu Handa( who played the protagonist in the Bus Forum) “Image Theatre- it was unexpected that in such a short time a group can make beautiful and relevant message out of an Image.” Varun Kohli “After my admission in this college, …I was actually missing the fun and craze and passion for doing new things and learning new and more and more things.I ahd lost my interactive behavior somewhere inside because I was upset with the atmosphere around me.This workshop with all of the philosophies actually created or recreated the same passion inside me to be that what I was and what I always wanted to be.” Geetika “ it made me realize the most talent in me, and also some of the grief and guilt in me for a long time was to some extent relieving for me.” Meghashyam Khyathi “ Practice for the Forum theatre- the part where we were asked to close our eyes and think about a conflict in our lives. It really helped me resolve certain unresolved issues just by thinking about them with so much of attention.” “It really helps you grow as a human being and will definitely help me be a better doctor.” Anura Bansal “ Since childhood I have this scary dream of being in a dark hole where I am all alone with no family of mine being there.That Snake game [Glass Cobra] really came close to that and by finding my partner with eyes closed I could actually start coming out of that fear.” “ eveteasing is one of the most important problems I have faced. And to see what all I can do now I don’t feel scared.If unfortunately it again happens , I’ll rub it on his face and give it back to him. Thank you for building that inside me.” Aditi “ the game, like counting till 10, or the Glass Cobra,where the group was actually being built really amazed me, as it was the group finding and trusting itself. It was simply amazing.” Setu Gupta “I am feeling more complete from inside. The games tested all my senses to different extent, making me aware that we are not just a body but body with mind and senses. I thank you all for this out of the world experience.” Jagjit “ …’Aha’ moment was the Forum Theatre. The unprecedented outcomes from the ‘spect-actors’ was awesome.I wasn’t sure that the actors can change their role just because of an intervention.It was sheer active learning through community education.I truly believe Forum Theatre and Image galleryhas a lot to provide in terms of Medical Humanities.” “I challenged myself and came out of my comfort zone.” “ Ideal format to take MH forward” Satendra |       |