Last week’s meeting was perhaps a sad one in some ways as it was our last one at the Kunlun Hotel. Many a good night has been spent at the Kunlun. We will for sure miss that beautiful view and the delicious food. But such is life and we will move on to pastures new.

This meeting’s speaker was an unusual one in that he wasn’t simply giving a talk. We had the pleasure of improvisation artist Paul Ashton giving us an improv workshop. So, it was off our chairs and into action. Paul expressed the idea that when we move from childhood to adulthood, we lose that ability to just let go and play. The aim of Paul’s workshop was to help us rediscover our inner child!

And so, we let go of our inhibitions and took part in Paul’s games. We had to go round in a circle doing ‘sound association’. One person made a sound and then another made a sound which they associated with it. We made some very funny sounds indeed! Then we played a game where we would stand in the middle of our circle pretending to be something. So, one person pretended to be a tree. Then another person pretended to be a squirrel on the tree. One person was a hunter and then the next person was an animal rights protester! The Rotarians were transformed into a very crazy mix of characters indeed!

A fun night was had by all. In our jobs, we often have big responsibilities and have to play very serious roles. So, it was great to be able to break free and connect with our inner child. Paul is a talented workshop leader who created a safe space for each of us to just let go and be silly. A fun night was had by all!

Written by Rotarian Rohit