Ideas from young minds

JAY JOSHI

The Japanese presentation and public speaking technique Pech Kucha has been gaining increasing popularity in recent years, and has also made a considerable impact in Goa. In the past, there have been Pecha Kucha events around different themes ranging from food to architecture, art, and design, and this time, on August 24 event management firm Festivalists is set to organise a special Pecha Kucha Night Junior special at Thinkering Goa, in Nachinola. 

The new event will have kids from various age groups speaking on ideas related to arts, science, food, travel etc, informes Ravi Kambhoj, the curator of Pecha Kucha Goa. “The goal behind this programme is to encourage kids to be good public speakers and prepare them for the future,” says Kambhoj. Further on, he underlines that the event goes far beyond preparing kids for public speaking and generating an exchange of good ideas. 

“It is important to listen to the ideas that kids have today, because they are the leaders of the future,” Kambhoj says. “Secondly, it helps the older generation understand what is going on in the minds of kids today,” he adds. “Many people might say that today’s kids are not as good as previous generations,but that is not true. They are bright, they are sorted, and through this event, we could sort of bridge the gap between two generations,” qups the curator of Pecha Kucha Goa. 

The event will witness a total of seven kids between the age group of 10 to 16 present their views on various ideas, Kambhoj shares. “One of the speakers is going to speak on Rubik’s cubes, while another, who was homeschooled, is going to throw light on travel and homeschooling. Apart from that, we also have a participant aged seven, who is going to talk about himself!,” Kambhoj states. 

Stressing that it is important for kids today to take up concepts such as Pecha Kucha and be part of more such events, Kambhoj goes on to highlight that schools need to encourage kids to participate in such activities. “We approached a number of schools around Goa to invite their students to participate in the event as speakers, and while we found good response from non-government schools, we felt that the government schools are perhaps being held back by the red tape. They need to be more open to new ideas and initiatives,” he expresses. 

“Earlier Pecha Kucha events in Goa have been quite successful, attracting around over 200 audience, which is quite high attendance for a non-musical event in Goa. Next, we plan to make the junior Pecha Kucha a bi-monthly event, and bring kids from all kinds of social and economic backgrounds on stage,” elucidates the event organiser, adding that the primary goal of the event is to train young kids in public speaking.  The kids who stand out during the bi-monthly event will get a chance to present at a bigger annual event later, stated the event curator.

Event: Pecha Kucha Night Junior

Date & time: August 24, 6 pm

Venue: Thinkering, Nachinola