By Dr Tania Saili Bakshi
Dehradun, 26 Oct: The Valley of Words |Shabdavali, Literature and Art Festival saw an array of sessions, conversations, exhibits, musical and dance performances giving everyone something to look forward to.
Along with all these activities the two-day event had interesting workshops that added a little more magic especially for the young minds from partnering schools such as Montessori School, Him Jyoti School, Welham Girls’ School, DPS Vikasnagar and others.
The first session on day one in Shabdavali Hall was a hit amongst young students. The workshop on sign language was put together by the faculty and students of Bajaj Institute of Learning, Dehradun. With utmost patience the teacher and students put together a half hour session on the art of learning the basics of sign language while communicating with people who are differently abled. The inter-active session saw students learn key aspects focussing on include handshapes, movement, and expressions from their peer group who kept the audience engaged.
The next in line was VoW Curator for Iti Nritya, Shalini Rao, who put together the Iconography of Ganesha – From Form to Movement. This workshop invited dancers, art enthusiasts, and spiritual seekers alike—anyone interested in engaging with Indian tradition through both thought and embodied practice. It explored the iconography of Ganesha, not just as a divine form, but as a profound expression of layered meanings, values, and energies. Shalini added, “Through stories, images, and discussion, we will unpack the iconographic significance of these elements and understand how they translate into gesture (mudra), expression (abhinaya), and rhythm (nritta) in classical dance.” The session culminated in the teaching of a dance piece dedicated to Ganapati.
On day two, a very interesting workshop was put together by Abhai Mishra on Philately also known as “King of Hobbies”. Abhai put together an interesting Power Point Presentation along with a short quiz for students taking part. He strongly believed that “Stamps are a miniature gateway to the world. They are a world in themselves. Collecting. stamps is an art and when one mixes this art with passion and science it becomes philately.” His workshop not only provided fun and pleasure, it also taught the children how Philately opened a window into the past, allowing collectors to explore historical events, cultural heritage, and the evolution of postal services. He added, “The hobby is so investigative in nature that one can actually peek into history with the philatelic kaleidoscope.”
As all the workshops were hands-on interactive sessions where everyone learnt a new skill through active participation, discussions, sharing space for peer-to-peer practical experience, the response was phenomenal. The feedback across age groups was phenomenal making sure that in all its future editions Valley of Words | Shabdavali Literature and Art Festival would dedicate space and time for many more such interactive workshops for its dedicated audience and participants.
