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Journalism of Courage
Do you remember listening spell-bound, as a child, to those audio cassettes filled with folk stories and fairy tales? You may now get the opportunity to relive that magic. With a few organisations recognising the importance of preserving oral records, authors have a chance to preserve their voices for posterity.
While most government and cultural organisations are yet to wake up to these possibilities, a major initiative has been launched in India by The United States Library of Congress.
acirc;euro;oelig;At an unknown time, an unknown person may be touched by this recording,acirc;euro; muses Gujarati writer Varsha Adalja, who has over 30 books to her credit. In fact, with her radio experience to back her, she believes the tone, emotions and nuances of such recordings can even reach out to those who donacirc;euro;trade;t follow the language. acirc;euro;oelig;In a multi-lingual city like Mumbai, many know a smattering of various tongues, if not the script,acirc;euro; she points out, adding that she chose very acirc;euro;oelig;human subjectsacirc;euro; for the recording, subjects that crossed the language and time barrier.From Mandodari, she selected a conversation between the protagonist and Sita, on how women deal with war and violence. From Khari Padelo Tanko, she read a passage that traced the liberation of a woman, through her experiences with her mentally-challenged child.
Adalja isnacirc;euro;trade;t alone in reiterating the power of the voice. This view is actively supported by Kannada litterateur with over 60 published works, Yashwant Chittal, who read from works like Sahityada Sapta Dhatu which explores what acirc;euro;oelig;shapesacirc;euro; literature and Siddhartha, dealing with the possibility of a Buddha rising amongst us today. acirc;euro;oelig;The voice is so much more intimate than a photograph on a bookacirc;euro;trade;s back cover. Readers would love to hear how their favourite author reads his or her own work,acirc;euro; he enthuses. As for renowned Sindhi author, Popati Hiranandani: acirc;euro;oelig;I grabbed the chance this recording offered, with both hands, as Sindhis need a voice.acirc;euro;
Amongst her 57 publications, she chose to read from works like My Sindhu and autobiography The Silver and Golden Pages of My Life, which reflect the Sindhi sentiments of displacement and love for their land and culture.
While this particular project was welcome, authors feel a need for more such efforts, especially as a market for these audio-works does exist. Adalja, for one, has done similar recordings for blind schools, where they help in literature lessons. The demand for Indian audio-books is also very high abroad. acirc;euro;oelig;Busy NRI executives listen while driving to work,acirc;euro; she points out, acirc;euro;oelig;These acirc;euro;tilde;booksacirc;euro;trade; are even used to help teach the language to second and third generation Indians.acirc;euro;
Audio recordings or books play important roles in promoting the reach and preservation of regional literature. This is intensified by the absence of satisfactory translations, which fail to capture the ambience and flavour of the originals. Marathi poet-politician Namdev Dhasal explains this, by saying that a majority of Marathi work acirc;euro;oelig;is yet to come out of romanticism and establish a link with life. It needs to wake up to international trends and new literary values.acirc;euro; Others, however, emphasise that their work certainly matches standards of Indian writing in English. acirc;euro;oelig;A translation is in itself a very important creative activity, yet it isnacirc;euro;trade;t largely embraced or loved. Something magical needs to happen,acirc;euro; bemoans Chittal.
Of course, there are some organisations that acknowledge the need to record oral history, like the Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women SPAROW. Concentrating on the acirc;euro;oelig;hidden historyacirc;euro; that threads together the lives of acirc;euro;oelig;ordinary yet uniqueacirc;euro; women, audio recordings form an integral part of their archive building and research projects.
Their activities span everything from interviews with individual women, to sourcing traditional folk songs and stories, to six oral history workshops all of which are recorded and eventually edited into journals. acirc;euro;oelig;We constantly use the oral tradition: like when stories, myths, lessons are passed on from mother to daughter,acirc;euro; explains trustee Roshan G Shahani, who herself has just brought out a book on her mother, Allan: Her Infinite Variety.
Yet such efforts are all the more special, as they are scarce. It remains to be seen whether these, rather solitary, endevours will spark off similar projects in this direction. If not, tomorrowacirc;euro;trade;s readers will only hear a whisper of voices echoing amongst the pages of literature.
