NEWS: The Healing Clown - The Hindu

Here's something from The Hindu newspaper's children's supplement, Young World.




By the way, we don't actually pick up the children in our arms because we're not supposed to do that. Also, the children never expect us, we're always a surprise! That's my favourite part. Except sometimes, we're more of a shock than a surprise .. once in a while a little toddler gets a bit scared when they first see us. But those are the ones who usually end up following us all around the wards.

Dipping my toe into the ocean of high fashion.

Yes, today my big toe, accompanied by force of habit by the other nine, stepped into the world of high fashion. Of course I already have many lovely clothes, but they're all ready-made, and tend to be thick and cosy. I think it would be hard to leap about skinnamarinking in them.

You see, summer is upon us, and quite heavily. So I decided to consult a young princess of luxury fashion, to find out which types of fabric are best for clowns, and how best to use them, and also how many metres I would need to buy (because apparently in the fabric shops, they always recommend more than you need).

Tomorrow I'm off to Commercial Street, and we are going to spend the morning looking at lovely fabric (hopefully not just looking, but buying too). I can't wait! Watch out world! Gladys will be stepping out in style, big toe and all!

A free music lesson.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to meet a musical expert who has come down all the way from San Jose (oh that rhymes! I love it when that happens) and she very kindly shared her musical knowledge with me, so that I may in turn, share it with the kids in hospital.

Her name is Minnoli, and she has FIVE YEARS of experience on this planet, the last year of which she has devoted largely to a specialised system of training known as Kindergarten, where she has been fine-tuning these musical skills of her. Thanks to her tutoring, I now know the words AND actions of an intricate ballad that goes by the name, "Skinnamarink".

I think it's wonderful when the Universe conspires to bring these people into my life so that I may learn and grow. I shall be eternally grateful to Ms. Minnoli for this wonderful gift, and I have been skinnamarinking all over the place, ever since. I can't wait for Friday, so I can skinnamarink my way around St Phil's wards.

Aah, music.

Here is a picture of Ms. Minnoli, Skinnamarinker Par Excellence (that's French for "Extraordinaire") >

Post-script: Ms. Minnoli has very kindly had her secretary email over the lyrics, which are as follows:

Skinnamarink
Skinnamarink e-dink e-dink
Skinnamarink e-doo
I love you.
I love you in the morning
and in the afternoon.
I love you in the evening
underneath the moon.
Skinnamarink e-dink e-dink
Skinnamarink e-doo
I love you.
I do.

An incubation of clowns.

In today's workshop session, we focused on finding and developing clown characters. A lot of people think that being a clown is just putting on a red nose and doing funny things. That's not it at all. You don't "DO" clown. You BE it. And being a clown is all about being a clown in your heart. It's being a clown on the inside, not just on the outside. Anyone can dress up and go hoo-hah! but that's not a clown. I've seen some scary people standing outside Kids Kemp who look like clowns, but I'm pretty sure they're not.

So today, I explained this to the trainees, and helped them work on ways to find their clowns. Given them some homework too. Now they've gone home to incubate, and any day now, they will start hatching into little fledgling clowns. I can't wait to meet them! The trainees are all very nice people, and so I'm sure their clowns will be really nice too. I've got to wait, though, cos the next workshop session will only be around the end of the month.

Clean clowns.

This evening was the second session of the Training Workshop. It was all about hygiene and hospital protocol, and impressive-sounding words like "nosocomial" and "micro-organisms" and the like, were much used.

The trainees did yawn a bit here and there during this session. It's mostly discussion and lecture type stuff. But it's Very Important. Therapeutic clowns, especially those who, like us, go to hospitals, have to be very very particular about the hygiene rules for hospital work.

Well, I figure that if any of those trainees aren't really serious about joining Dr Clown, then after this Hygiene session, we probably won't see them again. So at least it would have served as a good yardstick! And if nothing else, they all know how and when to wash their hands very thoroughly.

My first workshop.

Today was most exciting, because I got to meet five people who might have clowns hidden inside them. This is the first time it's ME organising the Dr Clown workshop. I think it's very nicely done, but of course I'm biased.

It went well! Lots of clowny exercises, lectures, games, discussions, all sorts of things. Everyone got to have a nice cheesy lunch at the new French cafe at the Alliance Francaise, too.

The trainees liked it so much (the training I mean, although they might have enjoyed the lunch too) that they don't want to wait too long for the next session. So we're meeting them again in just a few days for Session #2.

I held a newborn baby today.

That is a very fine experience, let me tell you. Especially when he's screaming his head off cos he's just had a drip inserted in his arm, and then you talk to him and sing to him, and he stops crying.

Yes, I was back at St Phil's today, clowning with my friend Brush-buddha. We had a lovely time, as always. There weren't many patients, just about seven kiddies in the wards. So we got to spend more time with each child. That was nice. But for me, the best part was when the nurses from Neo-Natal put this little preemie baby in my hands. He's not exactly newborn, to tell you the truth. He's a whole forty days old baby! Today was his fortieth birthday, I suppose.