The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sowing the seeds of change…

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Thursday, Jun 19, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sowing the seeds of change…

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Reality bytes: A woman working with a camera at ‘Affirming Life and Diversity: Rural Images and Voices on Food Sovereignty’ in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Bangalore: “Our hands are rough and used to handling the sickle. But we have now learnt to wield the camera with the ease of handling the sickle.”

That was Humnapur Laxmamma, a farmwoman from Bidar district, describing how she became part of women’s collectives started by Deccan Development Society (DDS), and honed her skill as a filmmaker in the Community Media Trust they started.

Ms. Laxmamma and other members of the trust, who hail from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh and parts of northern Karnataka, were in Bangalore at the invitation of Network of Women in India.

They showed excerpts of the films they made on issues close to their heart — the local community’s sovereignty over land, traditional seeds, nutritious food, natural resources and traditional knowledge — together titled “Affirming Life and Diversity: Rural Images and Voices on Food Sovereignty.”

Masangari Narasamma, from Pastapur in Medak district, spoke of how they were initially “scared to touch” a delicate instrument like the camera, but had learnt to handle it over seven months of training.

“You may ask why people like us who cannot read or write should make films when so many knowledgeable people are making them already. But we have stories to tell about the knowledge we have,” said Ms. Narasamma.

The bio-diversity festivals held by the collectives have made the community aware of the need to preserve the bio-diversity embedded in their local cultures, she added.

Musligari Kavitha, who carried her nine-month-old son Chinna on her hip, talked of how she was married off at 10, but had joined the collective and studied film-making after being abandoned by her husband. “I take my son along when I go out for shoots,” she said.

P.V. Satheesh, director of the DDS, spoke of how the women’s collectives’ initiative for rejuvenation of the local food systems had helped fight food crisis even there was a drought in the area.

The women’s foray into film-making, he said, was the culmination of a series of initiatives on food security issues.

Their film on BT cotton, he said, was the only film by farmers themselves on genetic engineering. It had several as a resource material at many fora, including the World Bank.

At the event Ms. Narasamma and Ms. Kavitha were busy shooting with video cameras, carrying the tripod around with ease.

Each time the latter’s child demanded her attention, another member of the trust would take over the camera.

As Mr. Satheesh said the venture was “the triumph of the small and determined”.

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