By TCN News,
New Delhi: The eighth IG Khan Memorial events focused on the theme of Labour and Dignity, with the aim of highlighting the work they do with rickshawpullers. They also tried to foreground the contribution of rickshaw pullers, and other migrant labourers, to cities.
The Janwadi Rickshaw Union had been part of the programme each year, but only in the background. This year, however, organizers tried to foreground this community, and start conversations between the union members and students and volunteers.
Workshop on rickshaw painting.
They started with the IG Khan Memorial Film Festival on Labour and Dignity, curated by Dr Parvez Imam. Over two days, they screened eight documentaries on themes like child trafficking, slum redevelopment projects in Delhi and child labourers in Hyderabad.
Some of the filmmakers were also present, like Aseem Asha, director of Akbar ki Sui, on an embroidery artist in Seelampur. The screenings were held in the open, in the beautiful courtyard of the General Education Center (GEC) under its two giant trees, and were followed by some heated and insightful discussions amongst students.
The other way IG Khan Memorial Trust also organized a workshop on rickshaw painting, where students and rickshaw pullers collaborated on re-painting their rickshaws. Three artists-Richa Pamnani, Arjun Vijaya and Gurpreet Sidhu from People Tree, Delhi,facilitated the process, that saw nine rickshaws being painted, by groups of students that started from 20 but swelled to about 50!
The result was an eye-catching collection of rickshaws, which were later critiqued by the rickshaw pullers, who also spoke about the issues they face during the session. Many students tried to ride the rickshaws-and realized that steering that machine through the streets of the city also took special skills.
Meanwhile, a group of nine students had been working away over the past week preparing special 3-minute audio visual presentations for the panel discussions titled ‘The Lives of Others’.
After these events, the memorial lecture was delivered on March 9 by P Sainath, noted journalist with The Hindu and author of the excellent work on poverty and famine, “Everybody Loves a Good Drought”.
In the course of his speech, Sainath raised several interesting points about the prevalence of hunger in India’s rural areas, and the skewed nature of government policies that benefit industrialists more than poor Indians. He also took questions from students that addressed the role of media in the discourse around development, and gave interviews to various student groups. It was an inspiring session that was both an eye opener and a reminder of the reality of India’s ‘Growth Story’.
P Sainath, noted journalist and author delivering the IG Khan Memorial lecture.
The lecture was followed by the panel discussion with members of the rickshaw union and the president, Madih ur Rehman Sherwani also present. The session began with the presentations by students, which created a strong impact on the audience as well as Sainath. The students who had made the presentations then talked of their experiences while preparing the clips, and what they had learnt that challenged their ideas and stereotypes about the lives of rickshaw pullers. The discussion was joined in by students and union members. As Sainath said, there was hope in the fact that students on their first attempt had created work that engaged people to talk about these issues, and certainly the process of making that work would have affected them and changed them in many ways.
The action then moved to the GEC lawns, where Jan Natya Manch put on a street play titled ‘Yeh Hum Kyun Sahein’. The play was about a father-son duo who exploit labourers by not giving them minimum wages, keeping them on contract and not giving them permanent jobs and who find ways of not letting the mazdoors get together so that they could unite and form a union. The play was a huge hit with the audience, who sat and discussed their reactions with the team after the performance.
The day concluded with a screening of the classic film Do Beegha Zameen by Bimal Roy, about the life of a migrant rickshaw puller in Calcutta. The film was introduced by Rinki Roy, the director’s daughter, who talked about how its theme and the events it depicted were still relevant today.
Through the day there was an exhibition of images on the GEC lawns, with various interpretations of the theme of Labour and Dignity. There was also an installation with the painted rickshaws, and various visual elements that put a human face to the anonymous labourer. The exhibition drew a large number of students drawn by the unusual style of presentation, who stayed to look closely at the pictures and discuss them with their friends.
The organizers thanked the AMU administration, teachers and students for their steadfast support and participation over this year’s events, and over all these years, particularly entire team at the General Education Center, (GEC).
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