The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Discussing livelihood issues

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Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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Discussing livelihood issues

Staff Reporter

Three films that focussed on livelihood issues were screened at the Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College.

KOCHI: The students and faculty at the Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College here had a collage of perspectives on the subject livelihood issues to analyse and discuss. The discussion came along with screening of three films on the theme.

The festival, Jeevika, was organised by Centre for Public Policy Research with support from Friends of Freedom – Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi. “This festival is being organised at educational institutions to initiate discussions on livelihood issues,” said D. Dhanuraj of CPPR.

The films screened on Wednesday were Fight for Survival, Gadia Lohar: A Life & Livelihood in Question and Flight of Distress.

The first film was about members of the Madari community in Gujarat. The 20-minute-film in Gujarati-Hindi, directed by Dakxin Nandlal Bajarange is about the conflict the community is facing in observing its tradition and culture.

The community has been catching snakes and performing the animal. According to the age-old norms of the community, snakes like cobras are kept for three months in captivity and then released to the jungle. But now, the strict imposition of laws and animal rights activisms have made life difficult for the Madaris.

The second film, Gadia Lohar: A Life & Livelihood in Question, is about failure on the part of governments in improving the life of Gadia Lohars, a nomadic community of Rajasthan. The film approaches the issue from psycho-social perspective and strives to generate a discussion on integrating the community to the mainstream society.

Flight of Distress is about plight of Byadhs community whose livelihood was catching and trading of Indian birds. The 32-minute film in Bengali was directed by Somdev Chatterjee.

The film follows Kalo, a Byadh, as he goes on his daily trips to catch birds and sell them. He talks about the hardships he and his community has had to face due to the negligence of the government. He has tried to get into some other profession a number of times, without success.

The film also brings to foreground other players who play various parts in the entire show – those like the traders, the Department of Forest and the police.

It is also an attempt to document the complicated social reality, where administration turns a blind eye towards the plight of the Byadhs, making them forever on the run from the law. This happens while birds continue to be in distress.

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