Tuesday, November 5, 2013

#TSBreakAway - Are You Afraid of the Dark?

"Follow my voice. Follow my voice."

The voice - a female - in front of me repeated the phrase like a mantra. My left hand guided the long cane left and right, clearing a path ahead while my right hand reaching out blindly for something to grab. There were voices everywhere, the same phrase being uttered by different persons but I drowned those noises out. Like the sailors drawn towards the sweet serenade of the mermaids, I too was mesmerized by mine, entrusting my safety to her lullabies. In pitch black darkness, her tender voice was my sense of direction.

This is not a scene from the American reality TV series, Total Blackout, but rather a workshop in #TSBreakAway called Dialogue in the Dark. Both programs thrive on its participants being surrounded in total darkness and having their wits tested. However, the similarities end here for there is more to Dialogue in the Dark than just a fear factor challenge.

Siti - that's the lady with the golden voice - led me and Roul to a spot and told us to stand still. How could she tell here from there in this darkness was beyond my imagination. While we were left to our own devices, we heard more and more peoples coming in, two by two at a time. Voices were getting louder and space crowded, yet I felt no one by my side except for Roul.

Once all of us had entered the blackout hall, the adventures began. We were divided into three groups based on the flavours of candies we were given earlier. Shouts of "durian", "mint"  and "coffee" echoed throughout the room like the vendors in pasar malam bellowing out loud to draw the customers' attentions. It took more than 5 minutes for this chaotic scene to come to an end, with everyone in their rightful group. I am proud to say that Durian came out first in getting all its members in one table.

A series of activities were given to us that test our remaining five senses; touch, smell, taste, hear, and sense of humor. We performed it all in good sport, neither overly competitive nor with 'whatever!' attitude. Peals of laughter resonated in the dark room, not terrified shrieks or screams commonly associated with such scenarios. Somehow, we felt safe in the hands of these teammates of ours, all of us strangers to each other 24 hours ago.

At the end of the program, lights turned back on and we can finally match the faces to the voices. Team Durian's facilitator, Siti, was just as lovely as her voice has indicated. She shared her story of how she overcame her blindness, never letting it becoming a hindrance to achieving what she wants with her life. In fact, just like Siti, the remaining four facilitators are visually impaired peoples, yet, they see life clearer than some of us born with the gift of eyesight.

They say that if you lose one sense, your other senses will become stronger, sharper. How true is that myth, I have no idea. But coming out from the workshop, I gained a new perspective of life. Often we take God's givens for granted, acting as if they are our rights, not privileges, not knowing it is the other way around. During the early stage of the workshop, one of the facilitators asked us, "What darkness means to you". For me, darkness tells me to be appreciative of my sights.

Nothing but kind words for Dialogue in the Dark

Dialogue in the Dark is one of the workshops for #TSBreakAway, a pilot program initiated by Tourism Selangor.

7 comments:

  1. my colleague told me there is a restaurant called "Dining in the Dark", in KL, it's something similar to this.

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  2. I heard of it too. I think it's in the Bukit Bintang area, but somehow, I'm not exactly keen on trying it.

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  3. That Dining in the Dark in Changkat is no relation to Dialogue in the Dark and it's actually more of just "having fun eating in the dark". But DiD will be having their own Dining in the Dark version next year in a new space with more depths :) Jeff this is a good post about Fun in the Dark session. One I was hoping many of you will take something positive out of their amazingness.

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  4. They just shared the similarity in concept but other than that, they are two different programs..Am looking forward to their version of Dining in the Dark..

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  5. You encapsulated the Fun in the Dark session perfectly bro! And I think it is true that when one of your senses is taken away, your other senses become sharper. I noticed that when in the dark, we focus more on our hearings and other abilities to interpret the moment. Anyway, nice post! :)

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  6. thanks, khai! we hv to focus more on our senses since we can't see anything...

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  7. Dear Jeff and friends...

    I would like to invite you and your fellow bloggers to an exclusive DIalogue In The Dark Bloggers & Media day event... Kindly get in touch with me as soon as you can... Thank you...

    Best Regards,
    Norraine
    DialogueInTheDarkMy2014@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete