Events

A Saturday with Strangers: Pop-Up Cafe 2.0

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On a regular Saturday afternoon when one is expected to be catching up on beauty sleep or stuck in droning lectures, DU Beat had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of Project FUEL (Forward the Understanding of Every Life Lesson). Founded in 2009 by Deepak Ramola, Project Fuel organised its second version of the highly successful Pop-Up cafe in The Founders’ Cafe, Delhi. More than 20 strangers formed the wonderful gathering.

The thought behind this idea is to create stimulating conversations and get people from all walks of life to interact and share their life lessons with each other. All participants were placed in different groups such that nobody on one table knew the others. Each group had a moderator who conducted an ice-breaking first introduction and followed it up with similar activities to keep the conversation flowing. Placards with questions were allotted, and all participants were then supposed to answer them immediately. There was another activity which involved putting paints on a sheet of paper, and crushing it subsequently to interpret the myriad of patterns that were formed. After this, everyone shared a life lesson they learnt, which created a trove of lessons for anyone who’s going through the same to refer to. The next activity banked heavily on sociometry, and engaged everyone in a passing-the-parcel game to eventually encourage them to share their deepest worries in solidarity and develop companionship in the process. The event ended with an open-mic session, where participants recited their poetry and shayari and related to each others’ experiences in the process.

The breezy weather coupled with fairy lights adorning the venue complemented the entire experience to develop it into a wholesome, enriching memory. Events of this sort, which promote learning through life lessons, are appreciable when in today’s day everyone is caught up in meaningless shenanigans of their own. With this, another edition of the Pop-Up Cafe was concluded on a successful note.

 

Feature Image Credits: Charu Saxena

Vijeata Balani
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Journalism has been called the “first rough draft of history”. D.U.B may be termed as the first rough draft of DU history. Freedom to Express.

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