Beyondheadlines News Desk
Kasauli: Talent can be found anywhere and can be nurtured at any age. Among the gushing pine trees on top of the hills in town of Kasauli lies abundant talent. We Sprawl, a creative group based out of Delhi, went to train this existing talent of one of the top schools in North India- Pinegrove School in Dharampur, near Kasauli. We Sprawl trained students in basics of photo journalism and documentary making through a four day workshop this month.
“Talent is at a lot of places. All it needs is little bit of polishing so that it takes the right directions. Young aspiring people need such platforms. That’s our only aim that is to give them opportunities. They should be aware of photography, journalism and film making as career options. You do not know the kind of path breaking thinking they have. It’s completely out of the box. They never fail to surprise us. Their simple questions break the conformist pattern of education we have,” says Aqsa Anjum, one of the founder members freelance film maker and a trainer in a media institute in Delhi.
The workshop began with theory of basics of photojournalism and documentary making. Then they get hands on training with professional equipments like Nikon D-40, Canon 1100 and PD 177. Children clicked some amazing photographs, shot the documentary and suggested the story themselves. The documentary shot by them is at now editing stage.
“They came up with brilliant topics like taking care of the environment around them, long lasting friendships formed during school times and how their school is helping them become better human beings. Our experience was great. Though we went to teach there, we ourselves learnt a lot of things. The staff and the students were nice,” says S Preet Kaur, founder member of the group, , freelance film maker and radio presenter in Delhi .
“We salute the talent in these young aspiring students. They are honest, expressive, and enthusiastic and have fresh ideas. It’s important for them to learn such things as this will them in the future. So it’s important to learn and do hard work today for a great tomorrow. That’s the motto of our school, as written in our crest- By toil to stars. We aspire to Inspire! We in school believe that they should do a lot of activities beyond academics like photography and film making. The students are the real heroes; we are simply the guiding lights, “says Samiksha Singh, Head Administration (Sr. School), Pine Grove School. The School was established in the early nineties and has seen itself grow and take great leaps under Headmaster Captain AJ Singh.
‘We Sprawl’ is a group of Delhi based group of freelance journalists, film makers, theatre persons, radio presenters and photographers. They keep on conducting theatre, film making, photography and journalism for privileged and under privileged children around the country. Its founder members are all young dynamic creative female professionals who founded the group in 2010. The group has worked with TERI and PVR Nest, CSR unit of PVR cinemas, conducted workshops in schools like GD Goenka, Father Agnel school, St Xaviers School, TCV School and NGOs like Deepalaya and Kutumb.
