Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 21 : Theatre is important in many ways since it promotes education and opens young minds to new vocabulary and communication methods. Keeping these benefits in mind a 15-day theatre workshop for college students was organised by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art Culture and Languages in collaboration with the Kalidas Theatre and Government Degree College Hyderpora in Srinagar.
The aim of the workshop was for the students to get in touch with their creative and theatrical side, as part of intensive and interactive theatre workshops. The effort of the Academy of Art Culture and Language is to take education and learning beyond classrooms.
M K Raina, a famous Indian theatre actor and director instructed students on the techniques of theatre. “We are educating college students about theatre, where they will be exposed to the great world of creativity and invention. The pupils here are also quite interested in learning about it, and it will enable them to become more confident and avoid timidity,” Raina told ANI.
“The workshop's major goal is to provide students with theatre education in addition to the education they receive from books so that students can explore themselves in this field as well. Students were particularly pleased that for the first time, a workshop was held at their campus," added Raina.

One of the students, Anam Nazir told ANI, “It is important for a student to improve his personality and we learnt a lot of things from this workshop. The nervousness has dissipated, and the theatre workshop has improved our abilities as well as our studies. Our brain will also perform well as a result of this, and we will learn a lot.”

Another student, Anjum, who is taking the workshop also spoke about its benefit, “This is extremely good because, in Kashmir, everyone believes that theatre is all about singing and dancing. It is also accepted that if the story needs to be communicated, there should be awareness in schools and colleges."

 “It is a way to explore our talent,” added Iftikar Ahmad.

The students believe that this theatre workshop will help them in many ways and enhance their communication skills also.