Society, Culture, Religion and History

Boys sit here, girls sit there. A rule I grew up to as well, it seemed the easiest thing to do, back in school. Girls talk more and boys are irritating, who wants to sit with them anyway. We did talk to them. We had crushes on them and vice-versa.

Women folk in Gorakhpur village

The first thing that struck me when I reached the venue of the Nirmal Bharat Yatra in Indore, Madhya Pradesh was the vibrant colours that brought the entire event to life, even before visitors started streaming in.

As usual we were divided into various groups and sent to schools to educate the students about sanitation and hygiene,which included talking about open defection, hand washing and menstrual hygiene management.

As the sanitation and hygiene campaign (Nirmal Bharat Yatra) moved from Maharastra to Madhya Pradesh, our halt on the outskirts of Indore brought us face-to-face with grim realities. Two schools that I visited had structures that in some government file were passed off as toilets.

This film humorously depicts the day to day hurdles that the poor have to overcome  to meet their basic needs such as water and sanitation and the circumstances that force them to resort to poor sanitation related behaviour such as open defecation.

Amlan Kusum Ganguly started Prayasam  to touch lives and and make a difference. Troubled by the plight of children in brick kilns and slums  and the widespread indifference towards sanitation, clean drinking water and health,  Amlan Ganguly and his organization decided to target the young to educate slum –dwellers.

October 3 – Making our way into the ground, we saw an all-night effort of the workers on site. The venue was prepped-up, workers were busy putting finishing touches – wiping the chairs of excess water, laying carpets on the ground, hanging fluorescent balloons in bunches on poles, near stalls and game pens.

Teachers play a major role in the development of our society. They inspire, motivate and pass on knowledge. To gain knowledge they go for various trainings. It’s very difficult to find teachers who know that there is a place for tradition but there is also a place for new ways, new ideas, new systems, and new approaches. But the teachers in Indore proved us wrong.