Real Stakes of Cinema Thinking

Course Co-cordinator: Snehal Vadher

Aadesh, Ved and Nishka

The creative writing course was conducted by Snehal Vadher, a contemporary artist who approaches the world in a deeply poetic way. In his practice, rhythm is not limited to language; it exists everywhere; in birds sitting on trees, even in small torn pieces of paper lying on the ground. That way of observing slowly began to influence how we looked at writing.

The module began with understanding what we usually imagine poetry to be; structured, syllable-based, often rhyming, and following certain fixed forms. We studied different rhyme schemes and traditional formats such as Shakespeare’s sonnets and Japanese haiku. By looking at these forms closely, we understood how carefully they are constructed; how syllables hold weight, how pauses matter, and how rhythm is created. We tried writing in these forms ourselves, which helped us experience their discipline.

Alongside writing, we also looked at artists who express themselves visually, especially through collage. We discussed how collage is often misunderstood as just cutting and pasting images neatly together. The works we saw challenged that idea, they were layered, messy, emotional, sometimes abstract, and deeply personal. This expanded our understanding of what assembling fragments can mean.

One of the most interesting parts of the elective was stepping outside the classroom. We went for walks around our surroundings and collected scraps; old papers, wrappers, photographs, tickets, printed texts, drawings, discarded materials from raddivalas. Some objects had a clear connection to our lives; others made no sense at first but still felt important. The act of collecting itself became meaningful. It made us more attentive to our environment and to the unnoticed details around us.

When we began making collages from these materials, many of us felt confused and hesitant. The pieces seemed random. We were still holding onto the idea that a collage should look organised or visually balanced in a particular way. But as we started layering the scraps; placing, removing, tearing, overlapping, something unexpected happened. Gradually, the chaos began to form narratives. Stories emerged from the combination of textures, fonts, orientations, and fragments of text. Some compositions were planned, while others were shaped spontaneously. Certain elements were carefully positioned; others were placed instinctively. The process felt similar to writing poetry, assembling fragments of thought until meaning appears.

Over time, the course began to shift how we think. Poetry was no longer just about correct syllables or rhyme schemes. Collage was no longer just about arrangement. Both became ways of seeing; ways of noticing rhythm in ordinary life, of finding meaning in fragments, and of allowing randomness to guide creation. The elective did not simply teach techniques; it changed how we observe, how we interpret, and how we express.