Tackling taboo through tales

Neha Singh at a storytelling session

This weekend, a workshop for children and parents will address important subjects like peeing, gender and more in an interactive and engaging manner. Author Neha Singh takes her own book, I Need to Pee, as inspiration to start a conversation around body shaming, gender, sexual predators, self esteem and above all, bodily functions like peeing.

"Is there anybody who doesn't pee, whether it is actors, astronauts or anyone else?" is how she opens the hour-long workshop, breaking the ice almost instantly. "When they first hear the name of the book, children start laughing and giggling," she says, talking about the fact that it isn't just children but adults who tip-toe around these topics, too. Singh uses different instances from the book to delve into other subjects. "For example, I talk about a story where a child has to use a public toilet that is dirty and has a door that doesn't close, and finds someone peeking in. We then talk about sexual predators," she explains.

She urges children to share their own trauma and stories around the subjects, and hopes it will also ease the tension between parents and children when talking about them. Singh also tells her own story, which inspired her to write the book. "I was travelling back in a bus from Bhopal and needed to pee. The driver refused to stop the bus until I threatened him that I would pee right there. I found no place to go and ended up relieving myself in a clay pot in an abandoned hut," she says, adding that making herself vulnerable helps further break the ice with the children.

Singh uses the usual tropes of storytelling, playing different characters from the book, and using voices even though she says, "It isn't difficult to keep children engaged when talking about these subjects."

On February 29, 9.30 am to 11 am
At St Andrews Centre for Philosophy and Performing Arts, St Dominic Road, Bandra West.
Log on to sappmumbai.com to register
Free

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