This was a TTM evening event, which was aimed to give us an insight into the content and style of the Convention itself. It started off with fun and games, playing with large beach balls! This was an icebreaker; thereafter everyone was introduced to mango dancing for the first time!! This was a shock to the system, everyone was slightly apprehensive to start with, but all joined in merrily. A perception tool was also shared with us all.
The main session then began. All those who had not seen the Star Wars films were asked to come to the front and everyone else was asked to enlighten them of the concepts, ideas, characters and their qualities in the film. This brought out both dark and light side related words, which we could identify with Jainism.
Then we separated into groups and discussed the Dark Side, this was shared with everyone else, it’s amazing how many things one can think of! All the dark side words and subsequent light sabres were summarised into Anger, Greed, Ego and Deceit (AGED), through the form of short stories. To finish off with, a film of Star Wars – Jain Style was shown, which represented many Jain ideas covered here and to come at the Convention!
Opinions:
“Thanks 4 coming 2 Northampton and creating a great Star Wars Atmosphere! I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did everyone else that participated in ‘Jain Jedi Training’ as part of Pre-Convention ‘Tasting The Mango’. The warm up exercises were a good way to get everyone hyped up!
I felt like I had learnt a lot, even though some of it was just reminders, and other things, which helped to stick into my mind. E.g. AGED. It was also a good way 2 set small attainable 10 challenges. It was also a good way 2 reflect back on some of the different aspects of Jainism within in my own life and work towards improving them. It was inspirational and can’t wait 4 the Convention.”
Zeel
“I thought the evening was brilliant. It gave me an insight to sum up Jain philosophy to cover a wide range of topics.”
Fulvanti
“I enjoyed it because of the use of examples such as the short stories. This was a different way of teaching, not only to children but to older people also. It was very creative in the sense of being interactive, as are our Jain classes interactive, therefore, we could relate to it well. This inspired us to encourage other students to come to the convention and ourselves to gain more knowledge and ideas of how to present things.”
Ansuiya
“I liked the gripping of hands and how they said it shouldn’t be uncomfortable but it should feel different, and that change is good. The AGED scenarios were very inspirational.”
Phoolparee
“Learnt about Likes & Dislikes.”
Neera
“Guy (Punit) in the Costume as a Jedi Trainer was funny.”
Hinesh
“Enjoyed hearing the story about Greed..with the king and man about 2 coins.”
Khilan
“Learnt AGED in English and Hindi.”
Nitish
“Reminded me of ‘Gulliver’s Island’ (one of the scenarios).”
Nikhil