india

India

videoshala - video + schools in Gujarat India

Shala is the word for school in Gujarat, India. this video from Frederick Noronha explains how video is being used in Gujarat to help educate children in areas where there are no teachers.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=WolUOEPG_Aw

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Pratilipi - a bilingual (English / Hindi) magazine of Indian writing


Pratilipi is an online bilingual magazine featuring Indian writing and stories in English and Hindi & other languages.

Pratilipi is (wants to be) a bilingual / multilingual, multiscript magazine that provides a space for conversation / debate between diverse sorts of writing and writers. Pratilipi forbids itself nothing – except taking on a representational role on the web or catering to such expectations – and, hopefully, never will.

visit the site @ http://pratilipi.in

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Transmission Asia-Pacific (TX-AP) : Media Activists from the Asia Pacific gather in Indonesia

Video makers, media activists, software developers and artists from 15 countries across the Asia-Pacific will be gathering in Sukabumi, West Java from May 19-25 for an online video skills camp. The goal of the camp is to bring together open source software programmers, video makers and media activists to develop the strategic use of online video distribution for social justice and media democracy.

TX-AP is a joint initiative between media activists in Australia and Indonesia. It is organised collaboratively by EngageMedia (Australia), a video sharing website and free software development, training and networking project and Ruangrupa (Indonesia) a non-profit artist initiative supporting the development of art in the cultural context through events, exhibitions, research and documentation. 50 specially invited media activists and artists will be coming to Indonesia to attend the workshop and share their skills and ideas.

The camp will provide a unique opportunity for artists, video makers, software developers and activists to collaborate and share skills in a global context where on-line video communication skills have become an increasingly important strategy for activists.

Read more for details or visit http://transmission.cc/txap

Swept off the Map: Surviving Resettlement and Eviction in Bawana JJ Colony

Swept off the Map: Surviving Resettlement and Eviction in Bawana JJ Colony by Kalyani Menon Sen and Gautam Bhan is a documentary look at the demoliton of "the Yamuna Pushta ‘jhuggi-jhonpdi’ colony, a string of settlements home to around 35,000 working class families - more than 150,000 people – some of whom had lived here for over three decades" to make way for a "riverside promenade with parks and fountains" by the Yamuna river, marketed to the tourists who visit Delhi.

this should be an interesting read, as I read about similar demolitions whilst I was in Delhi - it even happened to businesses; even large well built shopping centres. the book is available @ Yoda Press in India.

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Delhi Film Archive

Delhi Film Archive is a space that supports the freedom of expression and fearless listening. It is an archive of documentaries, short films, images and all other material that stimulate a collective response to censorship and the control of ideas. DFA is the Delhi chapter of Films For Freedom, an all India collective of filmmakers that emerged in 2003 to protest against censorship at the Mumbai International Film Festival and in different public spaces across India.

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relocation of Nangla Machi, Delhi

when I finished my work project in Delhi last year, I was taken out for lunch by some of the people I worked with. the lunch was really nice, we went to Gurgaon, to a Chinese restuarant. part of the conversation as we were leaving was about how places in Delhi were being rebuilt.

call centres, video magazines & more from India

I'm back in Auckland again for work, and have been catching up on emails over the Easter weekend break. A couple of emails to the Sarai reader list have led me to read about workers in Gurgaon (an industrial city with many call centres near Delhi) and watch videos from Indian women in villages producing their own video magazines.

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The first email was a blog post by Shivam Vij called "Who is a Bairagi?" asking questions about OBC (other backward classes) in India and do people there really know who these people are and how they live. The post was from a journalist who sometimes writes for Tehelka (the people's paper). The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has lists of names / castes for people classified as OBC. The Delhi list can be found here and full list for Indian regions found here. There's even a Questionnaire for consideration of requests for Inclusion and complaints of Under-Inclusion of backward classes in Central list - criteria such as Social, Economic and Educational.

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Another email to sarai reader list highlighted a new law resource in India - Between Law and Justice: A Law and Society Reader, a DVD database with (so far) over 400 articles on topics such as :

1. Legal histories
Colonial
Postcolonial
2. Constitutional promises and perils
3. Siting struggles: human rights and social justice
4. Roti, kapadda aur makaan: law, livelihood and development
5. Supreme, yet fallible
6. Crime and punishment
7. Access to justice
8. Citizens/denizens
9. Edge of desire: law, gender and sexuality
10. In a minority
11. Green justice
12. Media law & free speech
13. Governance
14. Life of law amidst globalisation
15. Legal education
16. Interdisciplinary challenges
17. International law

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Another email was a promo for a new documentary :

"INDIA UNTOUCHED - Stories of a People Apart" is a new documentary directed by Stalin K. and produced by Drishti. Drishti is a a collective of film & documentary makers in India.

Video Volunteers is part of the Creative Visions foundation and aims to setup Community Video Units and train local Community Video Producers to produce video magazines based on local issues which are screened monthly in 25 villages reaching more than 10000 people in these communities. Members of the communities speak about what matters to them and the CVU allows them to have a voice which is then shared with other members of the community.

http://videovolunteers.org/
http://videovolunteers.org/videogallery.php - to view the videos

India's Frontline magazine has a story about Video Volunteers.

http://videovolunteers.org/video_change.php
[quote]
The impact of social change media

Video empowers the poor with leadership and critical thinking skills and makes them partners in the development process. Even non-literates can learn to make videos in a matter of months. Here are some success stories from NGOs around the world:

* Bangladesh: Village women submitted video testimonies of the domestic abuse they have suffered and avoided intimidation in the village court.
* India: Rickshaw drivers made articulate video pleas that convinced local banks to give them loans for the first time.
* Mexico: Merely the site of a camera and fear of being caught caused police to withdraw from an illegal raid in Chiapas.
* Nigeria: A cholera outbreak was less severe in villages where a video on clean water was shown.
* Egypt: A group of women abandoned the practice of genital mutilation when they heard the call for change from community members' video interviews.
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Other related organisations helping to teach people video making skills in India are :

Barefoot Workshops, a not-for-profit media and music based educational organization where adults and youth are taught video, photography, music, and art as a way to document their surroundings, make change in the world, and most importantly, make change within themselves.

Velugu is the largest poverty project in the state working in over 860 mandals in 22 districts and aims to reach 29 lakhs (1 lakh = 100 000) of the poorest of rural poor. Velugu enhances the poor's capacities to manage their resources and helps access public services. SERP's uniqueness is in the blend of professionals and trained activists working at the grassroots. SERP has committed professionals, Community Coordinators who are working with the poor communities. It also creates the necessary critical mass by building the social capital through facilitating the identification of community activists and trains them as barefoot professionals, as paravets, botanists, social activists etc. This cadre of rural development professionals are managed by the mandal federations.

Creative Visions - The Creative Visions Foundation was inspired by the life of Dan Eldon -- artist, adventurer and activist - who was killed in 1993 while covering the conflict in Somalia as a photojournalist for Reuters News Agency. He was 22. Founded by his family and friends, CVF is a publicly supported 501 (c) (3) organization that supports "creative activists" like Dan -- social entrepreneurs who use media, technology and the arts to create awareness of environmental, social or humanitarian issues -- and inspire positive change.

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DRISHTI Media, Arts, Human Rights

Drishti Media are a group of media professionals working on issues of gender justice, human rights and development. They use video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society.

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how to wear a sari

Watch the video

I finally bought a sari! Ted (from work) took a video of the shop assistant showing me how to wear it but I accidently deleted it. so I tried it on that night to take another video so I'd remember how to do it later. it's dark blue/purplish in colour with pink/magenta highlights and gold trimming. I think I paid too much but I probably won't buy too many of these. though I am hoping to get a couple of cheaper cotton everyday versions rather than this silk one. they gave me a brochure in case I forget also.

http://flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/sari/

12/11/2006

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01/05/2006

01/05/2006

30/04/2006 - 2

30/04/2006 - 2

Humayan's Tomb, Delhi 30/04/2006

Humayan's Tomb, Delhi

30/04/2006

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