Looking through the TCI lens

Used under CC License for representative purpose

What Theme-Centred Interaction (TCI) has given me is a pair of glasses. When I look at situations in my life as well as in the lives of those around me, I seem to be influenced by the TCI axioms and attitudes.

In this post I would like to share with you my recent experience of interacting with a small group of students from a Vocational Higher Secondary School in Kottayam district, Kerala. They had already attended two TCI workshops of two days each under the theme “I change, I become an instrument of change at home and in my school”. It was I who led these workshops with support from Vengelji, a senior engineer-turned-counsellor and trainer, and a youngster by name Lalu Buoy, also a counsellor and trainer.

The objective of my interaction with students was to hear from them about the changes they could see in themselves as well as at their homes and schools after the workshops. Let me share with you a few of their experiences.

Shifad, one of the students, had a friend who used to smoke. Apparently he once even smoked 65 cigarettes in one sitting, to win a smoke-up contest which he and his friends had entered into. Today, thanks to the positive influence from Shifad, his friend has quit smoking.

Another student, Harishankar, shared something more personal. He was a shy and irritable boy. But through TCI workshops he gained confidence, and started giving tuition to students of lower classes at a nearby tuition centre, earning a decent pay.

Nafi confessed that he was a part of an eight-member gang known as “Avengers”. He had become a constant nuisance to teachers and his classmates. After TCI workshops, he became one of the most positive leaders in his class. The whole class decided that no one would come late to school. The first hour of school starts at 9:00 AM and the whole class would be present by 8:55 AM. They even started a “Time Register” on their own. The students, would sign this register when they reach, along with their time of arrival. Nafi became the leader in charge of the Time Register.

Harvis shared a small change that happened in his home. His parents and siblings never had meals together. Each one had his or her time and most of them ate in front of the television. Harvis brought a change to this, and now dinner time is ‘family time’ spent together around the same table.

TCI is transformative. The workshops obviously touched the lives of these students. That is because the environment in the workshops was favourable to change. I shall write more about these favourable elements in my next post. Till then, take care.

Thomas Abraham