Age is just a number, and it’s all in the brain—how you think, feel, or act. As we grow up, we tend to gather layers of multiple identities that match our specific roles in different set-ups and situations. Society’s expectations keep overpowering us, compelling us to mask our own idea of who we are. Satish deSa has a way out for adults who have forgotten how playful and joyful they were as children and who wish they could be a child again.
Yes, Satish has conceptualised a playschool for grown-ups that helps them learn to be playful and joyful, which most adults have long forgotten, as they wrongly think themselves to be too old to be childlike again. ‘Grown-ups Playschool’ is a concept that teaches adults to peel off their masks and let the child in them come out of the bracket.
Introducing adults to their childhood joys and letting them enjoy the superpowers that a child possesses, Satish has successfully experimented with what he calls a carefully constructed module that allows adults to forget their age and experience the emotions, feelings, and thoughts that lay deep within themselves. This also helps them to use the superpowers a child has—to be true to themselves and be truthful in all situations, come what may.
Satish explains, “The first part helps them ‘grow down’ into children—losing their inhibitions, letting them access their childish selves. With the masks off, the second part now gets participants to work with this revealed self—through art, craft, story, and puppets—throwing up surprising insights into the source of their own feelings, thoughts, and actions.”
We were all kids once, but most have forgotten what it was like to be a child. At 50, Satish has not forgotten it, and now he wants everybody else to follow his model. Blessed to have retained his curiosity and creativity while enjoying the simplest things in life, Satish introduces others to the inner child within them.
The credit may go to his parents during his growing years or the lack of devices in those days, as he puts it. Or was it St Xavier’s College in Mumbai, where his silliness, creativity, and ‘childish’ nature were celebrated and appreciated? He wonders. As a career, he chose to be in the advertising field as a creator and spent the next 20-plus years creating ads for Cadbury, Parle G, IPL, ISL, Perfetti, and others until 2016. Here, a teacher’s training programme gave him a new perspective on his own self.
“Giving me a deep respect for children and their inborn intelligence (and wisdom), it also made me realise that my childishness is a superpower. Since then, I have been working on using this superpower more consciously, working with children, teachers, and parents on how to respect and wield this superpower—nurturing it through stories, music, dance, art, and craft,” shares Satish, who is now the self-designated guardian of childhoods, creating sanctuaries where childhood can flourish.
Leaving no stone unturned, Satish implements his modules in schools, at home, online, through his publishing studio, through performances, story tours, festivals, and corporate training—with a dream of someday setting up a physical sanctuary in Goa.
Looking back, Satish recalls the beginning of this journey: “It was 1994 when I realised that I am good with children. I can spend playful hours with children, be a good storyteller. As a writer and creator, these qualities would make me a better person. My daughter was born in 2010, and the urge to be with children only grew. Before that, in 2007, I underwent landmark education and learnt how the mind works. Our likes and dislikes, interests and apathies are based on the deep-rooted experiences we have in our childhood, and when we are adults, they get stronger. Our personality is shaped when we, as kids, learn from our parents, siblings, teachers, and elders. So, I thought that adults need some support to unlearn and shed their fears, reluctances, and inhibitions before they can progress in life. And the concept got rolled out.”
The involvement of parents and teachers began in 2018. Last year, a parent approached him, asking if he could do a session for her colleagues. Satish accepted the proposal, and the feedback he received after his sessions was fantastic. The programme worked like a miracle. It was powerful and impactful. The programme has four modules, each with individual sessions. It’s a package where he begins with storytelling, games, colouring, and giving free rein to adults.
“I tell them to enjoy the movement of colours on paper. I give them newborn eyes or see how I can open their eyes to new things. I invoke their curiosity and make them think of possibilities. Using various techniques and tools, including theatrical skills, the adults learn to be like a child, having a clean slate while observing the world. Secondly, I see how they can change and become a better person by expressing themselves. Non-violent communication is the need of the hour, and one can express emotions without hurting the other person,” explains Satish.
Adaptability is important, which adults lack most of the time. Children are very receptive and adaptive. They accept change easily and without asking too many questions. Satish’s experiments with adults have succeeded in making them adapt to situations without grumbling. “A human being does too many exercises while seeking joy. It’s not that easy to be joyful. Look at children—how joyful and playful they are all the time. If we learn from them, life will be all smiles, minus stress. Live in the moment, don’t carry the baggage of the past, and don’t fear the future,” advises Satish.
