The Twin-Sessions of “Lyrical Letter-Exchange”

“……
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
The inner freedom from the practical desire,
The release from action and suffering, release from the inner
And the outer compulsion, yet surrounded
By a grace of sense, a white light still and moving,
Erhebung without motion, concentration
Without elimination, both a new world
And the old made explicit, understood
In the completion of its partial ecstasy,
The resolution of its partial horror.
Yet the enchainment of past and future
Woven in the weakness of the changing body,
Protects mankind from heaven and damnation
Which flesh cannot endure.
Time past and time future
Allow but a little consciousness.
To be conscious is not to be in time
But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,
The moment in the arbour where the rain beat,
The moment in the draughty church at smokefall
Be remembered; involved with past and future.
Only through time time is conquered
.……..”
— -T.S.Eliot

Our last session was in the format of a ‘Musical Potluck’ (Musical Manifesto 2020 — The Archival City) which was designed as an ‘e-Baithak’ (an online sit, meet and converse session). It was deeply moving and overwhelming to receive such powerful, insightful and emotional responses after our first session. We also would like to share with great pleasure that three members from the last session joined our team to conceptualise and design the future sessions along with our core team and have already enriched us with their insights, time and experiences about the last one.

This time we are going to choose the format of a ‘Lyrical Letter-exchange’ as an ‘e-Sawal-Jawab’ (an online Question and Answer session). As is evident from the name, it is the act of community letter writing and sharing which we would engage in, on the 30th and the 31st of May (Saturday and Sunday), from 18:00 to 19:30, India. Letters here can take any form and shape.

We as a team realised as we immersed in a process of inquiry and collective sense-making, that the aspect of ‘friendship’ and ‘time’ (in a multitude of ways through multiple perspectives) was one of the few themes/ideas that were emerging in many people’s sharing last time. In the spirit of the evolving and co-creative nature of this initiative, we, therefore, chose to take this inquiry forward. In our process of narrative inquiry, we thought rather than a monologic format of sharing, it would be meaningful to engage in a dialogic mode, which letter-writing, reading and responding could allow.

We would extend our invitation to join us, as we immerse ourselves in the theme of “befriending time” through an act of letter writing where the participants could share letters (in any form and language: in the form of text, poems, stories, song, photo-essay, video, audio and anything else) that they draft, to someone or something they would befriend/ have not been able to befriend/ have befriended in these times on the first day. Then some participants would creatively respond to those letters the next day. It would not be a personal letter writing and responding but a collective one where we develop a shared response to some of the ideas that resonate with us.

We wish to continue creating a safe space for all our thoughts and emotions. We hope that engagement with this process might lead to some deeply thought-provoking and soul-searching dialogues, contemplations and reflections. It would be our honour to have you as a part of this experience.

It would be nice if you can respond to this message by sharing whether you would like to share a letter on Saturday (Sawal) or would like to respond to the shared letters on Sunday (Jawab) or would you want to do both. This would help us plan better. If you choose to share a letter, these are some of the thoughts we would want you to explore through your letter:

What happens to our relationship with time when there is a global lockdown? Do we befriend time, do we experience a sense of timelessness, do we start worrying about time or do we find it difficult to befriend time? What/who become our friends and with what/whom do we feel a sense of discomfort?

Who would you like to befriend in these times?

Is there someone or something you have befriended in these times?

Would you like to befriend something or someone you are afraid of or are not comfortable with?

Fly high on your imagination and share a letter that you would write to one such friend/ a person or thing you would like to be friends with, using poetry, music, photos, collages or any medium that you could share online.

We would prefer if you attend both the sessions as they are connected to each other, but just in case you can not, we would still want to have you around.

Please RSVP at thearchivalcity@gmail.com .We can’t wait to enjoy your presence this weekend

Core Design and Production Team:
Gayathri Menon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gayathrigmenon/
Niladri Mukherjee
https://www.linkedin.com/in/niladri-mukherjee-844134166
Aditi Singh
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditi-singh-5809b8189/
Kunika Bajaj
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunika-bajaj-3188051b0/
Anushka Sharma

Design, Concept and Creative Direction:
Sudebi Thakurata
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudebi/