'Celebrating Charles Dickens' Workshop Report

Consider Yourself At Home- A three-day festival celebrating the life and work of Charles Dickens was organised from 21 to 23 February 2014 at the India International Centre. An interesting variety of events spanned three days of the festival. Five students of class VII from our School took part in an interesting event named- Dickens Ki Dilli-Through the Eyes of Children, which took place on the second day of the festival. It was an illustration workshop conducted by the award- winning childrens book artist Mr. Atanu Roy and the famous childrens author, Ms. Deepa Agarwal.

The morning was cold and foggy in true Dickensian spirit as most of us, who have read the grim and gloomy world of Dickens Oliver Twist, would identify! It was a perfect setting, to remember and celebrate one of the tallest figures of the literary world.The sprawling lawn of the IIC seemed a perfect venue and looked so alive for an event like this, dressed for the occasion as it were.

The workshop commenced with an introduction to the works of Dickens by the speaker of the day, Ms. Deepa Agarwal, who also visited our school during the Literary Week in April last year. There were students from other schools as well, Bluebells International and Springdales who attended the workshop. Ms. Agarwal quizzed the students on Dickens characters-his heroes and villains, who were so beautifully put to life by the literary genius. She asked them about the boy who asked for more and pat came the reply from the students of our School -Oliver Twist! Then there was the dastardly Fagin, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and many more characters who were recalled and discussed. She explained how some of Dickens villains, despite being spiteful, remained loved, for the simple reason that Dickens gave them a shade of humour, making them act as antidotes by adding a dash of relief to otherwise sordid characters. The author read out extracts from David Copperfield which intrigued the students for the voice modulation she used.

Next the mike was handed over to Mr. Atanu Roy who talked to the students about how Charles Dickens portrayed his child-characters. Oliver Twist, one of his most famous characters was a young boy who endured the misery of the workhouse he was made to live in and the drudgery he suffered at the hands of the heartless Fagin. Mr. Roy asked the students to see Delhi as Dickens would have seen it and then draw children seen on streets, not begging, but engaged in productive work like selling flowers, newspapers, etc. . He offered tips on how to begin by drawing a sketch himself on a board mounted for the purpose. The students got started and it was very much evident from the looks on their faces that they were thoroughly enjoying it! Mr. Roy kept visiting each table, offering suggestions, to the joy of the young artistes.

After an hour of this enjoyable labour by the students, it was time for the workshop to end, but not before Ms. Agarwal read out some more extracts from David Copperfield. There were gifts in the form of poem books and beautiful diaries to choose from, that awaited the participants.

It was a wonderful workshop where the students picked up nuances of the art of illustrating, alongwith celebrating Charles Dickens in a fitting way.

We also visited an exhibition of paintings by Livia Signorini. It was as if Dickens' characters mingled amongst us as we observed the paintings!

I felt an urge to read Dickens all over again!