Rhythm & Silence – A Writing Workshop with Koyel Lahiri & Rahul Shingrani
It is often the two hundred milliseconds of quiet between successive beats that sets a heart’s rhythm. Birdsong is best seen from the silence between chirps. A deeper listening is to find the gap between
sounds, a gap that instantaneously produces a vast, exuberant music.
What is, then, the rhythm of writing? Is it making meaning from a consciously chosen reality, for the deliberate exclusion of all other possibilities? A carefully crafted narrative enters the reader’s heart not
just for the poetry of its prose or the depth of its people, it is carried on a whiff of imagination by things unsaid and filled in by the reader. Silence, then, is an invitation to make meaning, to explore the in-
between states of seeing what is presented, to participate as if the story were improv and the reader a part of the performance. In creating conditions that are un-birthed but full of potential, the writer
creates a vehicle to enter the reader’s mind, and creates a distinct reality that is as rich and complex as the mind it enters.
Silence sees what rhythm makes, an interplay between being and becoming. Seen closely, a rhythm can be broken up into its consequent parts, the parts further broken into smaller parts, until there is
nothingness. Silence. In this silence is the instantaneous return to the fullness of meaning, the grand orchestra of rhythm.
As writers, we can allow the rhythm of the story to silently sit beneath our prose, or let it arise into lucid being. How, then, does a writer use rhythm and silence? With narrative arcs or pauses? With scenes of seeing interspersed between those of becoming? With the contrast of a quiet character against an unravelling world? With the deliberate exclusion of details central to the story? This is where our work begins, where we meet as artists seeking rhythm, as poets sculpting syllable and sound, coaxing our words and meanings into the richness of the reader’s mind.
The format:
Times: 9 am to 12 pm; 2 pm to 4 pm
This workshop is for intermediate to advanced writers. Applicants must have a body of writing, published or unpublished. They may also be working on a manuscript, a short story, an essay, a journalistic piece, a collection of poetry, or any form of writing. There is no expected submission ahead of the workshop.
Consequently, we request our writers to follow the honour system – they may determine for themselves if they will be able to support fellow participants and enrich their own writing practices in this workshop. We would encourage you to register if you are a committed reader and have spent time thinking deeply about craft with a serious intent to embark on a writing project. Please feel free to contact us if you are not sure whether this workshop is the correct fit for you.
The facilitators plan to share some readings for confirmed participants ahead of the workshop. Each day, we begin with a short awareness meditation and emerge from this practice with a discussion on the shared texts. We spend time writing – either through prompts or without. We spend the second half of our session reading out our work and learning how to offer our feedback to the writings of others.
There will be writing exercises that require us to write in a notebook. Please bring a pen or a pencil and a notebook.
Some of the great writings that we have lined up come from India, Latin America, the West, from the classics to contemporary works of written art, from poetry to essays, short stories, and all that defies
categorisation. A sampling of writers on our radar include Paul Kalanithi, Yasunari Kawabata, Pablo Neruda, Herman Hesse, Matt Haig, Leisl Schwabe, Jorge Luis Borges, Samantha Harvey, Ursula Le Guin, Tracy K.Smith, Anne Waldman, William Stafford, Denise Levertov, Italo Calvino, Roberto Bolano, and so many more.
Your facilitators:
Koyel Lahiri was at an unexpected fork in her life, when a synchronously timed writing workshop at Deer Park Institute in 2023 helped her come alive to just how much she needed her spiritual practice AND writing in her life. Dormant knowledge awakened, she took the path that would let her keep writing. She will grow old and die sharing this dual joy and purpose. She has a B.A. (Hons.) in English from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University, an M.A. in Globalisation and Labour from T.I.S.S. (Mumbai), and an MPhil and PhD in the Social Sciences from the Centre for Studies in the Social Sciences, Calcutta. At present, Koyel has the privilege of making a living by helping create English Learning materials for children as a freelancer with Oxford University Press, India. Aside from academic writing, she has had a couple of essays carried by SheThePeople and a (very) short story by Bricolage Magazine. She’s working on a couple of non-fiction manuscripts and discovering the gift and power of true community in the writing journey. Along the way, she has happily handed over the problem of herself into the willing, patient and affectionate hands of Paramahansa Yogananda and his yogic lineage of Kriya Yoga masters.
Rahul Shingrani is a biomedical engineer and a writer. His day job is in the realm of health and technology, and he has been involved in the invention of medical devices, building young companies, and finding ways to take health innovations into rural communities. He has, for as long as he is able to recall, written. Rahul has published his short fiction and prose poetry in literary magazines such as The Bombay Literary Magazine, The Four Quarters Magazine, The Stupid Bird, and The Bangalore Writers Workshop Anthology. Some of his work has, and is still being considered for adaptation into theatre and television. Rahul has previously facilitated the writing process through self-designed, independent workshops and also at the Bangalore Writers Workshop. He intends to bring into being his awareness practice, learned under the guidance of teachers from ancient lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, and his continuous love for the written word and its emergent sound, into a creative confluence and present it as an offering. Mostly, he’d like to spend time with friends that share such joys.