Every year the Royal Court Theatre organises a residency workshop for young playwrights from different countries. The motive of these workshops is to encourage young playwrights and in the process explore new writing. This year the theatre celebrates its 50th anniversary. 11 young playwrights from different parts of the world were invited and there were public performances of select excerpts from their work. I was selected to be a part of this workshop alongside my colleagues from Spain, Cuba, Chile, Malaysia, Russia, Rumania, Syria, Germany, Sweden and Mexico.

The first two weeks of the workshop were dedicated to sessions in which we discussed the various aspects of theatre. We analysed scripts and learnt of the new writing in Britain. Each one of us talked about the contemporary theatre in our countries. We then had a session on 'collective writing' which was conducted by a group of four writers. In this session we formed small groups and worked on different ideas to present short scenes. We also interacted with actors and saw how they improvised.

In the third week we were assigned a director and a writer each. They were to simultaneously work on our scripts. My director was Poonam Brah, a lady of Indian origin. During my time with her, Elyse (Head of the International Dept) and my 'writer's writer', Cloe Moss, I completely changed my script with the help of their inputs. Later actors too worked on my script and the sum of their suggestions provided me with greater insight. I began to look at my script from a different perspective. For lack of a suitable title, my play is tentatively called UNTIL OR UNLESS. In fact I am still working on my script and hope to complete it soon. I had a very good time with Cloe Moss with whom I discussed many things while shopping together!

We were also able to see many plays during the workshop such as James Joyce's EXILES, Tanika Gupta's SUGAR MUMMIES and Caroyl Churchill's TOP GIRLS. My visit would not have been complete without going to the Globe Theatre where I saw a performance of Shakespeare's ANTONY and CLEOPATRA. I really enjoyed watching EXILES because the characters revealed many possibilities of looking at one situation. It's really not easy to assume who is more right or wrong than the other where relationships are concerned. We even got an opportunity to meet and interact with celebrity playwrights like Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and Hanif Qureshi.

One of the most interesting things about the workshop was to interact with my colleagues. Back in the cocoon of our worlds we often do not realize that we in India are so safe and secure. My generation has never faced any full-scale war. When I learnt about the situation in Rumania where revolution took place only in 1989 and the hardships people face there, I was much troubled. Countries like Syria feel constantly threatened by the Isreali forces. Cuba again had a reign of terror under Fidel Castro. To my surprise I learnt that in some countries it is even difficult to make a single film a year. We may read about these things but having a personal conversation with a new friend changes the entire perspective of these issues.

On the whole I had a very good time. The workshop's set-up was very informal and it helped me hone my writer's craft. It was really a fulfilling experience for me. It expanded my way of thinking and diluted my inhibitions as a writer and also as a person. When we all (11 people from 11 countries) first met, we felt distinct and disconnected from each other. But during the workshop we shared our vortex of feelings. And at the end of the residency programme we grew together as a group inspite of our differences. I have come back with many questions which I continue to mull over. In time, there may be some answers.