A community of creative story writers and narrators is taking shape at SDM College Ujire and apparently everyone is taking notice. ‘Pakoda Tales’ is the quirky title of this innovative community and the series of events that brings people together for an evening of creative exchange. A newly introduced stream of formal College education – the Bachelor of Vocational Education (B. Voc) in Digital Media and Film Making has initiated the series, and the very first event of the series will be held on 17th of February was one of its kind
Pakoda Tales is an open community that welcomes creative individuals with open arms. Hosted at SDM both virtually and offline, it has announced a series of 12 events, each themed differently based on a new creative aspect. While, the first event theme was stories, the second is music, the third one, art, and so on.
Innovative events centred on film making, acting, characters, cartoons and more are lined up for the year. Experts and Achievers from every field will be invited to the events where they will interact with the small crowd for a while, after which the community members engage in a custom designed creative exchange based on the month’s theme.
The first event, a story themed event, took place at the SDM Arboretum (botanical garden) during sunset up to 6.30 PM. The ambience was as fresh and welcoming as the idea itself – the creative exchange took place amidst the deep greenery of nature dotted with handmade confetti wires and casually piled with books. The trees were handed a well-researched quote that related to the theme of the day. The quote was fastened to their trunks and the tree itself was draped aesthetically. The ambience was simple yet elegant and so visibly appropriate for the creatively minded. The huddled, squatted on the lawn, munched on Pakodas, sipped their tea, and curated their stories. It was an occasion ripe for the creative juices to flow and flow they did!
The accomplished guests at the location included Muhammed Danish – a novelist, Padmini Jain – a dialogue writer for soap opera on the TV Channel, Colours Kannada and Dr. Rajshekhar – a novelist and story writer and recipient of a State Award for literary achievement.
Danish, a novelist, shared the elements of a story that make it engrossing for a reader. Padmini, a constant facilitator of prominent Kannada daily soaps, spoke about how narration is the most challenging part of a story, and the defining one. Dr. Rajshekhar, one with profound experience in story and poetry writing, shared the cognitive dynamics and dissonances of a writer’s mind. The audience had some difficult questions to pose to the guests and the interaction that followed was a rather intense one and brought the event alive. The participants at the event comprised students of SDM from various streams alongside some interested members of the faculty.
A 19-year-old stole the spotlight with an innovative activity that came up next. Shashanka, a student of Journalism at SDM, narrated an enchantingly complex story he had authored, and stopped narrating when it peaked everyone’s curiosity. That was at 72% of peak capacity! He then asked the audience to attempt to complete it using their imagination. The audience was given a few minutes to brainstorm while they savoured Pakodas and then there was no turning back.
Pretty much everyone had a version of the climax of Shashanka’s story that was based in a rural Indian setup. More than twenty different possibilities of the story were presented and discussed, some of them deep, some complicated, some extremely creative and some wonderfully funny.
The event ended with a similar story-based game, the results of which, will be carried over to the next event and will reflect on the stories shared therein.
Pakoda Tales has received massive support from SDM Management and Dr. B Yashovarma, the Secretary of SDM Group of Institutions was himself present at the event alongside his wife, Soniya Varma. “hosting likeminded youngsters for value based creative exchanges is an incredible idea. The idea is fresh and inspiring. I am inspired to tell a story too! Hopefully, one of these events shall have little kids in the audience to whom I’d be happy to narrate one of my favourite stories of all time.” The Principal of SDM College Ujire, Dr. Satheeshchandra too was present in the audience among the kids and contributed to the event with a story of his own with a mysterious cliff-hanger!
Pakoda Tales is one of a kind, heart-warming and extremely creative platform for creative individuals to be a part of. The community stays active online on the SDM B.Voc page on Instagram between events. People are welcome to send stories or experiences based on the month’s theme on which online discussions are held. Only original content is accepted.
The next event is themed on music alongside stories and the event promises to be as exciting and informative if not more than the first one! Everyone’s welcome to be a part of the upcoming events, the details of which are regularly posted on their Instagram page. Queries and entries based on the theme can be sent to bvocdmf@sdmcujire.in.
The hosts expect the community to grow larger and more involved in the coming months – after all, who doesn’t love a good story and an exchange of creative ideas?
Story by Ashwini Jain, B.Voc, SDM College Ujire.
