[Reader-list] abstracts and general audience highlights for Wednesday 5 December

[Vivek Narayanan]

*Highlights and Abstracts for tomorow's session -- Wednesday, 5 December*

Hi all--

Again, comments or posts (critical or otherwise) on today's (Tuesday's) 
sessions would be very welcome!

Highlights for a more general audience, tomorrow: "Creeper" by Ram 
Ganesh Kamatham (7.00 pm), and a panel on: the Dalit Panthers, caste and 
gender violence in Kerala and revisiting the long term effects of the 
1992 Mumbai riots (11.45 pm).

7.00 – 8.15
“Creeper”, a play written and directed by Ram Ganesh Kamatham, recasting 
the Vikram and Vetal myth in a contemporary urban setting. Featuring 
Mallika Prasad and Abhishek Majumdar. (Running time: 1 hour fifteen minutes)


"Shit!"
"What?"
"Some kid fell off an escalator in Garuda mall and died."
"It's ok, it's ok. As long as it's not someone we know. Just someone 
else's kid."
"How can they let this happen? People must be allowed to go shopping in 
peace."

About the play

This is a story about two people in the city.
She is the expert narrator, he is a mischievous sutradhar.
These two story-tellers have amazing stories to share.
Problem is they don't agree on how to tell the story!

Creeper is a modern re-imagination of the tale of Vikram and Vetal. The 
play slams this mythos into a contemporary urban setting – creating a 
shadowy world that is immediately recognizable, yet bizarre and 
entertaining.

“Creeper” was written and produced as part of Ram Ganesh Kamatham’s 
project on Vikram and Vetal during the 2007 Sarai-CSDS Independent 
Fellowship. Kamatham, one of Bangalore’s best known up-and-coming 
directors (ramganeshk @gmail.com) has created work for stage, film, 
radio, and video games. The project is blogged at: 
http://addledbraindump.blogspot.com/

*

11.45 – 1.15
In the Midst of Conflict I: Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Chair: Ravi Sundaram

[Ravi Sundaram (ravis @sarai.net) is a Fellow of the Centre for the 
Study of Developing Societies. He is one of the initiators of Sarai and 
is one of the editors of the Sarai Reader series. He coordinates the 
media city research project. He has written extensively on contemporary 
intersection of technology, media and urban experience.]


Arvind Kumar
Caste Violence in Urban Maharashtra: A study of the 1974 Worli Riots in 
Mumbai and the Dalit Panthers Movement

The proposed study intends to analyse the Worli riots of 1974 when there 
was a violent clash between the Shiv Sena and the Dalit Panthers. In 
this riot the main target of communal wrath were dalits who opted out of 
the oppressive caste-hindu religion and converted to Neo-Buddhism. The 
riots and the agitation brought to the surface dissensions within the 
Dalit Panther movement, which ultimately led to its split in 1974.

There are enough sources available on Dalit Panther movement. The 
consciousness of revolt was also expressed in an outburst of poetry by 
new writers like Namdev Dhasal, Daya Powar, J V Pawar, Waman Nimbalkar, 
Arun Kamble and many others. The present study will locate the Worli 
riots in a historical perspective and will try and address new questions 
as and when they arise through the course of the study.

Arvind Kumar (arvind.access @gmail.com) is pursuing a PhD in American 
Studies at the School of International Studies, JNU on the topic 
'Discrimination and Resistance - A Comparative Study of Black Movements 
in the U.S and Dalit Movements in India'.

P. Jenny and C. Christy
Chitralekha’s Burning Autorickshaw: Caste, Class and Gender in the Urban 
Space of Keralam

This proposal is about a Dalit woman married to a Backward Caste man and 
their struggle to move above caste and gender structures in a moffusil 
town in Keralam.

The story begins when the couple buys an autorickshaw in Chithra Lekha's 
name and she decides to drive it herself. However, Chithra Lekha's caste 
and gender identity makes it impossible for her to step into the public 
sphere of this liberated moffusil town. The leftist trade union (mainly 
consisting of a dominant BC caste) already angered by her caste 
violation of marrying above her caste, acts against her by delaying her 
membership card and continues to harass her till at last her 
autorickshaw is burned to ashes.

In this project we collect and document each and every aspect of this 
(true) incident by conducting thorough interviews with all the people 
concerned. Along with this we would also like to produce a theoretical 
paper which tries to understand how caste, class, gender relations 
constitute the urban space in Keralam. Here we would examine:

 > how the dominant Marxist party works to reproduce the caste and 
gender structure in Keralam;

 > the important tools of sexual morality which are used against the 
progress of Dalit and "other" women;

 > the intricacies of the OBC-Dalit relationship and the reasons that 
triggers violence between them;

 > the role of subaltern masculinities in the entire incident.


P. Jenny (jenny.chithra @gmail.com) is an independent researcher, writer 
and columnist. She holds a PhD on Malayalam Cinema, from the Central 
Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

C. Christy (christy.carmel @gmail.com) is at present doing her PhD in 
Media and Commmunications from the Central University of Hyderabad, 
Andhra Pradesh.


Meena Menon
Recovering Lost Histories: Riot Victims, the Communal Polarisation of 
Mumbai and Its Impact on People and Perceptions about Communities

Is Mumbai the unbreakable city it is touted to be? As a city, it has 
changed in obvious and not so obvious ways since the post Babri Masjid 
demolition riots of December 1992 and January 1993. The main focus of 
the research will be the families of the riot victims and their lives 
after more than a decade since the violence.

The research is based on interviews first hand visits to places and 
talking to as wide a spectrum of people as possible— including 
researchers, journalists, riot affected families, government, police 
officials, apart from political parties. At the end of the research I 
would like to use the material for a book.

Meena Menon (meenamenon @gmail.com) is currently a special correspondent 
with The Hindu. She has been a journalist for 22 years and has worked 
with The Times of India, Mid-day and the United of News of India.

**************************************************************************************************
Wed 5 December
Venue: LTG Auditorium, Mandi House

10.00 am – 11.30
Distant Communities
Chair: Ravikant
[Ravikant (ravikant @sarai.net) taught and researched history in Delhi 
University for a number of years. He currently conceptualises and edits 
content in Hindi at Sarai. He is the co-editor of Deewan-e-Sarai (the 
Hindi Reader series). He also writes for Hindi magazines and newspapers 
on the issues of media, language, computing and translation.]

Surya Prakash Upadhyay
Guru on the Air: Televised Hinduism in Contemporary India

The project proposes to look at the instrumentality of audio-visual 
media in the construction and maintenance of the religio-spiritual world 
in contemporary Hinduism and in the mobilization of people towards 
“tele-gurus”. The project attempts to look into a recent and interesting 
addition in the religious sphere, especially in present-day Hinduism, 
catered to the people by cable television in the urban spaces. It looks 
at a new-age guru named Asharam Bapu, and at the phenomenon of media 
playing a vital part in the growth of his organization, in increasing 
the numbers of followers and devotees, and in propagation as well as 
spread of religiosity and spirituality among people. There are several 
gurus and also several devotional channels that are highly influential 
in urban spaces, transmitting their programmes through television and 
providing an opportunity for people to listen and watch their favorite 
guru. This development in the media sector has filled the gap of 
physical absence of the guru and multiplied the communication between 
him and his followers. The aim of the research is to give a ‘thick 
description’ of the whole phenomenon.

Surya Prakash Upadhyay (surya_rajan21 @yahoo.com) is a Research Scholar 
in the Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of 
Technology Bombay.

Neelima Chauhan
Blogit Hindi Jati ka Linkit Man: Blogon mein Hindi Hypertext ka 
Adhayayan (The World of Hindi Blogs)

This research attempts to do an online study of Hindi hyper text on 
Hindi blogs. It will be an attempt to make a critical appreciation of 
Language and style of hypertextual prose as it flows through the 
terminals of Hindi Bloggers. It will be an online study which will take 
in account the existing blogs, Hindi Networks, Blog Archives, Comments 
etc. Narratives from the Hindi Online community will be collected. The 
objective is to identify the construction of the grand narrative of 
'Hindi Jati' (Hindi nationality) as described in Hindi literary 
criticism, especially that by Ram Vilas Sharma. This construction of 
Hindi Jati where geographical space seemingly becomes meaningless (or 
less important, at least) will be explored. As the research will be an 
online study, its progress will be available to all interested in real 
time.

Neelima Chauhan (neelimasayshi @gmail.com)'s doctoral and postdoctoral 
work is in post-colonial Hindi prose. She teaches Hindi at Delhi 
University's Zakir Husain Post Graduate Evening College. The blog for 
this project can be found at: http://linkitmann.blogspot.com/

Raman Jit Singh Chima
The Regulation of the Internet by the Indian State

Though considerable work has been done on exploring how the Internet is 
capable of being regulated, not much has been done to chart out the 
exact shape of such regulation of expression on the Internet in India. 
More importantly, the exact manner in which the Indian State has 
regulated the Internet through all the structures and mechanisms at its 
disposal has not been studied, which is important since this affects the 
flow of speech and expression.

In order to attempt to chart out the empirical aspects of Internet 
regulation in India and its linkages with normative frameworks, the 
focus of this project is thus on the following two goals:

firstly, to track out and study the manner in which the Indian State 
regulates the Internet through legal structures and connected mechanism 
(both through formal legal rules as well as through informal measure 
such as executive action); and

secondly, to analyze how this regulatory framework relates to the 
constitutional safeguards with respect to the limitations on state 
action viz. free speech and expression and whether it respects these 
constraints.

Raman Chima (ramanchima @gmail.com) is pursuing the B.A.LL.B. (Hons) 
program at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and is 
currently in the 3rd year of this course. The blog for this project can 
be found at: http://stateoftheweb.blogspot.com/


11.45 – 1.15
In the Midst of Conflict I: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

11.00 – 11.30
(In Upstairs Gallery Space)
Listen, Little Man-- by Madhavi Tangella;
[See also discussion with Shivam Vij on Friday’s programme below.]

Listen Little Man is a 28-minute documentary film study of ragging in India.

Madhavi Tangella (manzilechar @yahoo.com) worked on Sagar Cinema, a 
“poor man’s multiplex” for her Sarai Independent Fellowship. She is 
currently a film student at SRFTI, Kolkata.



1.30 – 3.00
In the Midst of Conflict II: Reading Between the Column Inches
Chair: Sanjay Sharma
[Sanjay Sharma (sanjaykusharma @yahoo.co.in) is a historian and radio 
broadcaster. He teaches History at Zakir Hussain College, Delhi 
University and is co-editor of Sarai-CSDS’s Hindi reader series, 
Deewan-e-Sarai.]


Shiju Sam Varughese
The Public Sphere as a Site of Knowledge Production: Science in the 
Malayalam Press

This study attempts to understand the functioning of the public sphere, 
constituted through the regional press in Keralam, as a site of 
knowledge production in the context of scientific controversies. This 
will be studied by taking a specific scientific controversy as case. In 
the wake of an earthquake on 12th December 2000, several unusual 
geophysical incidents including well collapses, coloured rains and micro 
tremors began appearing in Keralam. These phenomena have been reported 
in the regional press from every nook and cranny of the region and the 
deliberations over it continued for almost one year in the regional 
press, involving a wide range of issues and actors. This case will be 
studied in detail based on content analysis of five major Malayalam 
newspapers (Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Deshabhimani, Madhyamam, and 
Keralam Kaumudi) as well as interviews with key actors involved in the 
controversy. This is to demonstrate how the public sphere acts as a site 
of knowledge production in the context of a scientific controversy.

Shiju Sam Varughese (shijusam @gmail.com)is a doctoral candidate at the 
Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru 
University, New Delhi. His research is on the public understanding of 
science in Keralam.

Alok Puranik
Bazaar Reporting in Hindi Newspapers

In the days when the Sensex is a mandatory presence in news reporting, 
Alok Puranik tried to study reportage of the market in Hindi newspapers 
down the years. When did these market reports originate, how did its 
terminology evolve, what was its relationship with the rest of the news 
and how has it changed over the years? He starts his study in 1947 and 
concentrates on two dailies published from Delhi.

Alok Puranik (puranika @gmail.com) is an economist, columnist, satirist, 
and blogger who teaches at Agrasen College, Delhi University. His books 
include Neki kar Akhbar mein Daal and Arthik Patrakarita.

Shubhra Nagalia
The Representation of Communal Conflicts in Hindi Media: A Case study of 
the 2005 Mau Riots

The research investigates the reportage of Mau riots by electronic and 
print media. While there has been extensive documentation and studies on 
the ‘communalisation’ of media and its role in riot situations, the 
small town manifestation of this phenomenon in Mau and its resultant 
repercussions on hegemonic discourses and construction of religious 
identity will be one of the areas of our study. The images, slogans, 
language and presentation of Mau riots through the lens of Hindi media; 
linkages between political influences, capital and communities that 
shapes the contours of media in general and local news in particular 
will also be subjects of our research. The paper also contains detailed 
interview excerpts.


Shubhra Nagalia (shubhra_n71 @yahoo.com) is doing her Ph.D in the School 
of International Studies, JNU. She has taught Women’s Studies at Mahatma 
Gandhi University, Wardha. She is a longtime activist and a member of 
All India Progressive Womens’ Association.


3.15—4.45
Other Traditions
Chair: Priya Sen
[Priya Sen is a trained filmmaker who has taught media production in the 
US and India. She works with sound, multimedia and radio content at the 
Cybermohalla Labs. She is part of the editorial collective of the 
broadsheet series Sarai.txt.]

Priya Babu
Traditions of the Aravani (Transgender) Community in Tamilnadu

Aravanis, called Hijrahs in north India, have existed in Tamilnadu for 
several centuries. Though born biologically as males, they closely 
identify themselves as girl/woman. By doing so, they undergo a lot of 
suffering due to the great psychological pressure exerted by different 
social forces that prevail. Because of lack of understanding among the 
general public and the society, those who do not behave like boys are 
often discrimination and even face violence from their own family 
members. Hence they are forced to leave their family members and later 
join the Aravani community, which accepts them and provides support.

This research will study and document the Tamilnadu Aravani community’s 
varied traditions. It will try to understand different sects and their 
hierarchies with a focus on interrelations during public celebrations 
and private gatherings. In the process, the project will also document 
their worshipping places, their relation with the god Aravan and the 
story of how they became linked with mainstream society.

Priya Babu (priyababu_sudar @yahoo.co.in) is a Chennai-based researcher, 
journalist and coordinator of the theatre group, ‘Kannadi Kalai Kuzhu’. 
She is herself a member of the Aravani community.


Mithun Narayan Bose
Tracing Life from the Stroke: Documenting the Rickshaw-Painting of 
Kolkata Streets

The paintings behind the rickshaws of the city of Calcutta are a unique 
example of an unnoticed urban folk-art, and the detailed study of the 
paintings can be an alternative way to know about the life of these 
people. As most of the Calcutta rickshaw-pullers have migrated to the 
city from other places, the paintings’ style reflect the form/ style of 
art available at the rickshaw-puller’s place of origin. A unique 
heterogeneity is also observed due to its confluence with the urban 
style. Thematically, the rickshaw paintings of Calcutta-streets are of 
different types (e.g. religious, landscape, portrait of near and dear 
ones, film star etc.). In this project, the painting behind the 
rickshaws is documented with the help of both video recording and 
photography.

Mithun Narayan Bose (bangali_mnb @yahoo.com) is a language teacher at a 
Kolkata school. He contributes regularly to several Kolkata little 
magazines, and his interests include poetry, folklore, cultural 
anthropology, art and art criticism.

Deepak Kadyan
Popular Musical Traditions and Configuration of Jat identity in Haryana, 
1900-2000

This research seeks to examine the relationship between popular musical 
traditions and the forging of a jat identity in north India in general 
and in Haryana in particular. The processes of identity formation and 
self-perceived notions of community are analyzed and discerned through 
the prism of popular culture and as to how a 'community' viewed itself, 
and what its aspirations have been over a period of time.

An important aspect of this study is an analysis of the sites of 
performance and circulation of this oral tradition. One such site is the 
akharas (lit. a wrestling arena, but here, it refers to a space for 
rehearsals and practice), influential until the mid twentieth century. 
Another such site available to oral tradition for circulation was the 
colonial army and police. The history of oral tradition is intertwined 
with the history of prominent performers, and major structural and 
performative changes, whether in terms of musical instruments, rhythms, 
intonation, appropriation of symbols or content— in other words, the 
relationship between performers and performance. Interestingly, the 
social composition of oral tradition in Haryana is different, as it 
wasn't dominated by any particular community.

Deepak Kadyan can be reached at: hie.deepak at gmail.com


5.30 – 6.00 pm
(In Upstairs Gallery Space)
Performance Art: “This Evening Too: From Lal Ded to Abdul Ahad Zargar”
by Inder Salim: Space limited to 25 persons only—first come, first serve.

Inder Salim (indersalim @gmail.com), an Independent Fellow this year, is 
a performance artist based in Delhi. He blogs his work at: 
http://indersalim.livejournal.com/


7.00 – 8.15
(Back in main auditorium)
“Creeper”, a play written and directed by Ram Ganesh Kamatham, recasting 
the Vikram and Vetal myth in a contemporary urban setting. Featuring 
Mallika Prasad and Abhishek Majumdar. (Running time: 1 hour fifteen 
minutes)