Sharmini Brookes
Organising chaos: a natural imperative
It seemed the end of the Newtonian dream. We could never know the starting point accurately. Scientific certainty dissolved. Chaos was seen everywhere, hard-wired into every aspect of the world in which we live.
Don’t look on the bright side – it’s positively fatal
‘Crayons?!!!’ she asked incredulously, ‘what are they for?’ ‘So you can express your feelings’ she was told. As an established writer and author of fourteen books, including the bestselling Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch she was incensed. This infantilisation of adults in the face of what was for her a frighteningly traumatic experience made her want to throw up.
The idea that drives the music
Projects that involve children in learning how to be a DJ or how to write rap and dance to hip-hop are no doubt enjoyable for the children involved, but will not transform their reality. In many instances, this is the only reality they know. The El Sistema approach, by contrast, would have forced them to engage with a different more rigorous tradition than the one they have grown up with
Geregtigheid in a Rainbow Nation
Beckett’s characters speak Seffricanese, the language of Josi or Joburg as the locals call their city – an exuberant mix of English peppered with popular phrases and slang words from Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho.
El Sistema – social engineering with inspiration
El Sistema takes children from varied backgrounds and abilities and forces them through a system that demands discipline and application, and the rewards have been inspiring.
Learning Chinese
Ting deliberately intersperses her English dialogue with snatches of Chinese exclamations and sayings to bring the characters to life and remind one of their Chinese heritage.
Speed dating on progress
‘India has been successful in producing the Tata car to replace the rickshaws that many people have to depend on for transport. The Indian people want cars not rickshaws. Now we’re bringing their rickshaws to central London. What’s that about? We should be happy for the Chinese and the Indians.’
