Ana - Building Stories

(2020)

‘Ana’ in Korku language means ‘story’. Stories serve the purpose of entertainment, communicating knowledge and events, and sharing experiences. The brand name ‘Ana’, however, is used as a metaphor to describe life. Ana will introduce the world to the stories of the small, seemingly insignificant communities of India that play a huge role in the diversity of the country.

Project Overview

Project Considerations
Audience Research
Design Proposition
Final Thoughts

Project Considerations

Government Shortcomings

Unfortunate as it may be, Ana will have to work within the shortcomings of the law and the government in order to work towards the upliftment of Korku community. The guidance in matters such as these would be provided by the NGP under which the brand would function.

This project is likely to show inefficiencies in the local government’s functioning. “The first tragedy is that the state has treated its adivasi citizens with contempt and condescension. The second tragedy is that their presumed protectors, the Naxalites, offer no long-term solution either” (Guha, 2007). Activists, lawyers and educators have been branded as ‘Urban Naxals’, a term which many argue is being used to silence dissent (Kumar, 2018).

Covid 19

The stage-1 of this project takes COVID-19 into consideration. Government-run school teachers and NGO volunteers continue to support the tribal community to help them cope with the change by being present in the village. Ana volunteers won’t be required to commute in the initial stage; they can sketch, transcribe and translate from home.

COVID-19 survey in Sarwarkheda

Forest en route to Sarwarkheda

Ethics

If implemented, this project will drastically affect the lifestyle of the tribal community. In an ideal situation, many who previously worked as farm workers and labourers would work for Ana which may lead to problems with those employing them. This may lead to issues such as employers from the surrounding regions struggling to find labourers and workers. This alone may lead to standoffs between Ana and the employers. It will be necessary to consider them as stakeholders in the long run.

The community inhabits part of the land that is considered a tiger reserve. Ana will have to work with the relevant authorities for any infrastructural activities that it undertakes in the village. It will have to be actively aware of any effect it has on the ecosystem..

The stage-4 of the programme involves ecotourism. This would increase awareness about the tribal community and the surrounding forest. However, it would also mean vehicles, garbage and other potentially polluting products inside the forest region. Ana may have to lay out rules for the visitors that it brings in.

Audience Research

Location and Locality

Sarwarkheda, inhabited by Korku tribe, is located far from the more populated settlements, inside a forest region. The tribe is said to be “geographically and culturally isolated from the mainstream population of India” (Vahia, Halkare, & Dahedar, 2016). The major hurdle apart from the location of the village is the language spoken by the community. The Korku tribal community inhabiting the village speak a language that goes by the same name. The medium of education is Marathi and English, so the students aren't able to relate to anything taught by the teachers.

Path in Sarwarkheda with houses on either side

A path in Sarwarkheda

Kids in the government-run school in Sarwarkheda

Illiteracy

Stakeholders

What would motivate the audience to participate in Ana's programme to bring a positive change? What are the inhibiting factors and what could make them take action? The image below details out personas of various stakeholders who would be involved with the project.

various stakeholders and graph showing motivation versus ability

Design Proposition

The ultimate aim of this project is to uplift the disadvantaged communities throughout India. However, for the purpose of this report, the aim is to uplift Korku community that inhabits the village of Sarwarkheda in the state of Maharashtra, India. This would be done in several stages.

Stage-1

The first step would be to address UN’s Grand Challenge-4: Quality Education. This would be done by collecting local tales and fables from the elders of the community, transcribed and illustrated by volunteers across the country and printed in the form of books to be distributed amongst the students. This would mean the involvement of the community members in the young children’s education.

The website is a platform for volunteers and the editorial team of Ana to collaborate. This platform would be used to create templates by editors and submit content by volunteers.

In the later stages, the website would also be used to host podcast and videos by the villagers, book tours of the village, and make donations.

Illustrator's Web-Interface

Editors' Web-Interface

Book with description in Marathi and Korku languages

Example of a book in production

Stage-2 and 3

The next stage would involve villagers acting as hosts for the volunteers and inviting them to experience their culture. Ana would make the arrangements with the villagers by ‘employing’ them as hosts. This would also help in developing a relationship between the volunteers and the locals. This would also prepare the locals to accept other visitors.

Stage-3 would involve building a public identity of the Korku community through radio channels, podcasts, videos and photos. This would help attract the curiosity of millions across the country. People would be able to make donations to the community apart from actively volunteering.

Editors' Web-Interface

Stage-4

The last stage for this project would involve ecotourism. This would mean designing booklets, posters and advertisements through Ana’s website for print and social media platforms. This would attract nature-lovers and philanthropists who wish to help the community. The primary issue with this step is the location of Sarwarkheda inside the Melghat Tiger Reserve. This step may require the approval of state authorities and may require analysis by nature experts on the impact of such tourists on the reserve.

Final Thoughts

Underlying Assumptions

The project has several underlying assumptions. These are also the weaknesses of the project.

There are enough people willing to contribute to the project.
The content submitted is original and of acceptable quality.
Initially, elders would be willing to contribute without much incentive
State forest departments and other government bodies would be ok with this programme

The project relies heavily on the contributions of online volunteers. However according to Pareto Principle, only 20% of these volunteers are likely to create 80% of the content (Kruse, 2016). Thus, greater the number of contributors, likelier the chances of creating any kind of content.

Conclusion

Creating change is always a difficult task and especially one that is quite progressive, as people tend to prefer the known over the unknown. There may be other variables that arise as the project is laid out, other unforeseen challenges.

As Ramachandra Guha writes, “The tribals of peninsular India are the unacknowledged victims of six decades [since India’s freedom] of democratic development. In this period they have continued to be exploited and dispossessed by the wider economy and polity.” (Guha, 2007). The developing country has countless shortcomings and like many countries, the minorities are the worst affected. With enough support and funding, this project may have a chance of turning around the lives of the tribal communities in India.