This Mumbai community initiative helps adults reconnect with their playful side

Grown-ups engage in a previously held play session

Don't try to make me grow up, before my time," said Jo to Meg - in Little Women - on being scolded by her sister for romping around without a care in the world. And that's the problem with adulting; we grow up before ‘our' time. Once there - or even through the emotional passage - we silence our childlike voices. Anusha Manjani and Zarna Sanghrajka launched The Play Quest - a community seeking the forgotten land of play - to hear such repressed voices. Their next session will be hosted over the weekend at a Khar-based co-working space.

Interiors of Mitti Space

The duo decided on the idea during a regular phone call. Manjani shares that the want for this platform was realised during the pandemic. "As mental health professionals, Zarna and I felt that COVID-19 had brought about a sense of relentless heaviness. It was evident that people needed to come together as a group and connect with their inner selves and others, too," she elaborates. The psychotherapist describes play as a gamut of activities that can welcome lightness into our daily lives. It can bring joy, cultivate creativity, grant freedom and most importantly, nudge us to relook at failures and perfectionism. "Saturday's group meet will encourage attendees to challenge their inner hurdles while exploring subjective ideas of play," she says.

Anusha Manjani and Zarna Sanghrajka

The platform has been holding weekend workshops across the city for over four months. About choosing Mitti Space for their upcoming session, Manjani adds, "We try to pick locations that are aligned with our fundamental belief of building a community. Mitti Space makes room for art and innovation. In the past, we have guided sessions at venues that promote movement and interaction." The duo plans to come up with longer workshops and retreats.

What kind of activities will participants sign up for in the next session? Manjani says there will be art, storytelling, movement, games and more. Materials required for the exercises are handed out at the location. The play-seekers clarify that while the sessions involve pursuits that can be therapeutic; they are not modelled on group therapy.

On: January 21; 5 pm
At: Mitti Space, Khar West
Log on to: @jointheplayquest
Cost: Rs 1,500