When the Duke came to Heritage

Padma R Brahma, Award Leader, Heritage Girls School, Udaipur and T4T participant submitting a report on Asia Pacific Training for Trainers (T4T) held from 8th - 10 March 2015

The ASIA Pacific Region Training For Trainers (T4T) for The Award programme was held between 8th and 10th March, 2015 at The Heritage Girls School, Udaipur. The training was led by Rob Oliphant, Regional Manager Asia Pacific Region.
All arrangements in place, the 7th saw the arrival of the delegates. They came in from different parts of the country and continent (Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Mahatashtra, Rajasthan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) and lent a shade of vibrancy to the school atmosphere and the scenic beauty of the venue.
The training itself was spread over three days and covered various aspects of training, especially with reference to the Award programme. Participants learnt to categorize the available data; design training content; understand that the audience is always a mix of different intelligences and learnt ways to cater to each one of them. Another very important lesson that escaped no one was one of Rob Oliphant's screaming flip chart reading, "PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION". Fun and learning intertwined in the interactive training sessions.


At the core of teaching was the individual presentations that the trainees made, where they presented various aspects of the Award in a simulated live classroom. The topics were assigned to pairs of participants on the first day of training, to be presented over the next two days. The entire block was abuzz with activity: people planning their presentations animatedly; some walking around the premises looking for props; some working on laptops; some colouring, cutting and pasting charts (some even had to forgo the yummy Rajasthani lunch!!).

One-by-one the teams presented and received feedback - one had never fully comprehended the meaning of 'constructive feedback' until then. The programme exposed all to different methods employed to train. Rob used flipcharts and not the 'traditional' power point presentations which stayed in the room and transformed it into a livewire that constantly reinforced everything learnt. Click for pictures

Helping to preserve our heritage!

It is a commitment of a different kind. When the bronze aspirants of Heritage Girls School, Udaipur visited the 10th century monument that was literally a stone's throw away from the school during the course of a walk, one of us just mentioned that it would be wonderful if we  could come there more often. The Principal suggested that we adopt the place and the idea took flight!

Adopting a monument is not a difficult process. We wrote to the local office of the Archeological Survey of India and waited. A month later the letter arrived. Yes, it can be done, said Mr P.S. Sriraman, the ASI officer. Correspondence flew back and forth and it was decided the monument would be ours on the 26th of January!

Though it was originally dedicated to  Lord Vishnu, the Saas-Bahu temple at Eklingji, Udaipur is not functional as a temple anymore. However, it  is worth visiting for its sheer architectural beauty. Experts like Dr Rajshekhar Vyas, who was present at the adoption ceremony, tell us that this is one of those rare places where the stories of both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are featured on the stone frescoes. Like many of our precious legacies, this too has been ravaged by plunderers, but whatever is left, is worth saving.

The care and nurture that we plan for the monument has already begun. The Community Service Society went about cleaning the premises on the morning of the 26th of January. The History Society will now prepare brochures containing the popular lore associated with the place to distribute to the tourists visiting the place.

There is a lot about history, archeology, architecture to be learnt from here. It is an exciting prospect!   Click for more pictures