Hands that speak....??

Hands that speak....??

Yes I am going to write to you about hands today..Very odd perhaps but it isn't a lecture on anatomy or physiology. Its about our beautiful hands that speak a unique language. Take a moment now and just look at them. How much they do for us and we hardly notice them. That's what I did before . I used to write diary everyday and it was just to pour out everything I had done the whole day. I never went back and read it but it really helped and calmed me down. But I never thanked my hands for it. And after I started working I didn't get time to write and for 2 years I didn't write. I look back and see that those were very stressful years of my life. But then something magical happened I started writing with my hands again but not the usual way I started weaving with my hands. Thanks to a dear friend, I got a small weaving loom and it brought magic in my life. My hands were talking again. I cannot explain in enough words the world they opened up to me. I just couldn't stop myself. I learnt weaving, knotting and whatever else I could, for my hands.

Make things, that’s what I started doing. I  kept working with my hands and in those moments everything around me would become still, time stopped, world stopped..no actually my thoughts and my mind stopped. I felt this immense sense of calmness within me. I kept working with different materials like palm, paper,threads,jute and different kinds of weaving and knotting.

At that time I was working with children in different NGOs and I realized that I could take this experience of mine to the children. I wanted the children to learn this language of silent communication with the materials and with themselves. And all these years I have observed with myself as well as with the children that when all the rattling and chattering in our heads stops, hands work and materials speak. I have had children come to me and say , “Aunty it just happened!!” ,but they didn't observe that when they became really quiet it all happened..hands talk the beautiful language that has no words or sounds. Hand work helps calm our minds and when we become calm we communicate with our body and mind in a beautiful way.

 I feel this experience is the essence of having handwork as an integral part of the school and if possible at home too. As an adult , I feel it as a responsibility to expose as many children to this unique language of no words, no sound yet a dialogue with oneself and connection within. I have also seen that every child is unique and different materials speak to different children hence my passion now is to learn as many different kinds of handwork with various materials and bring it to as many children as possible. I have been very happy and blessed in this journey where I have met so many friends who feel the same and we all are working together on this. Join us asap..:)

Ending with a poem I wrote,

Rays of hope are bright but slow,

we tend to feel that they come and go,

but if we look at the scene as a whole,

we'll realize they are forever in our soul.

Love,

Nikita Gandhi.