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Participatory Communications

Communications is the basis of breaking boundaries and bringing people together. For an organisation rooted in participation, communication is integral to its way of functioning. Over the years, Praxis has led in the sphere of participatory communication through a range of initiatives that aim to make the world smaller and more inclusive. From participatory videos to digital story-telling, from documenting the experiences of communities through the Read Aloud series, or through publishing toolkits on how to use participation, reports, books, articles and more, participatory communication has aimed to move from talking about communities to facilitating platforms of direct talk.

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A sample of our documentaries, participatory videos, digital stories, books for a wide age group reiterate that voices of the most marginalised can and must be heard. We have engaged with a range of communities across a gamut of themes to make this process possible.

Read Aloud Series

Documentaries

Digital Story Telling

Apna Bhavishya Apne Haath
02:45

Apna Bhavishya Apne Haath

This inspiring digital story, made by Banita Majhi at a session facilitated by Praxis in Kalinga Institute for Social Sciences, talks about her experience at rejecting the mind-set that girls have only one future - marriage and fighting against her family and community to work, earn money and pursue higher studies.
Tumhare bina zindagi - A digital story
02:52

Tumhare bina zindagi - A digital story

Dibya Minz of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences made this digital story at a workshop facilitated by Praxis. The story is of one day in her life and the changes it brought about. She raises a question about her future that is pertinent to many others in different contexts. e
Impossible is Possible - A digital story
02:07

Impossible is Possible - A digital story

A digital story created by Anita Minz from Kalinga Institute for Social Sciences in Odisha at a Digital-Story Telling workshop facilitated by Praxis. Anita narrates her experiences and struggles to follow her heart and study computers against her father's wish.
Behti hui hawa mein udti hui patang (The Kite in the Wind)
03:15

Behti hui hawa mein udti hui patang (The Kite in the Wind)

This digital story was developed by Magrita, a young adivasi girl doing her graduation from Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, at a digital story-telling workshop facilitated by Praxis. Magrita tells about her decision to study and the way it affected her life in this digital story that is 3:14 minutes long.
Hard Work Meets Gold
02:41

Hard Work Meets Gold

This digital story by Golhai Besra was created during a digital story-telling workshop facilitated by Praxis at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences. Golhai tells his story of hard work and determination to succeed in his dream of pursuing higher education. Now in his graduation, he aspires to get a job in the railway and set up a tomato farm in the distant future.
Sangharsh: A Digital Story
03:08

Sangharsh: A Digital Story

Jagannath Tudu created a digital story as part of a digital storytelling workshop facilitated by Praxis in Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a residential school based in Orissa. Through this story, Jagannath revisits his life prior to his joining the school which is he believes to be the life-changing event for him.
Education is important for girls
03:05

Education is important for girls

This digital story, made by Amrita Naik at a session facilitated by Praxis in Kalinga Institute for Social Sciences, talks about the experience of a young girl whose parents tried to get her married at a very young age. Inspired by the girl's decision to run away and study hard to turn her life around, Amrita talks about the need for educating girls and doing away with practices like early marriage.
Discipline is the key to success
03:24

Discipline is the key to success

Raising Banra created a digital story as part of a digital storytelling workshop facilitated by Praxis in Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a residential school based in Orissa. Raising talks about his love for football and the opportunities the game could provide for students.

Participatory Videos

Saare Jahaan Se Acchha
06:09
Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices

Saare Jahaan Se Acchha

CityMakers in Delhi came together to voice their vision for change and present their demands from the post-2015 development framework through a participatory video process facilitated by Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices. Avishek, Mukhtar, Surindra, Nandlal, Pinki, Kalicharan, Brij Kishore, Pawan and Pushpendra made this film Sare Jahaan Se Achha - which raises a question about whether the poor even belong to the great story of development.
Chennai - Of the Mighty and the Mangled
09:03
Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices

Chennai - Of the Mighty and the Mangled

Members of the urban poor community in Chennai - homeless, slum-dwellers and those moved to relocation sites on the outskirts of the city share their views on how development and development policies have encroached upon their spaces and their lives - pushing them into an abyss of invisibility. From being criminalised, to being stigmatised through enforcement of multiple vulnerable identities of poverty, caste, occupation and more, the participants of the participatory video workshop share how they have faced hardships in life and how they coped with it and what they want from the state whose radar they seem to have fallen off.
Beyond 2015 - Voices for Empowerment
08:19
Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices

Beyond 2015 - Voices for Empowerment

Praxis organised a participatory video workshop with members of the transgender community in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The participants debated on the need to have their voices reflected in the post-2015 framework that will come into place as a replacement or an extension or a logical conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals that lapse in 2015. In addition, they learn to handle a camera, learnt the art and craft of filmmaking and donned multiple roles as camera person, sound person, floor manager and director to plan and shoot a film that conveyed their goals and dreams in the post-2015 framework. The filmmaking was followed by a two-day editing workshop during which the participants selected how the film should look and why, what it should have, how and the rest of the details. This resulted in the final product that is uploaded above. Do watch it and leave your comments and suggestions. Thanks!
Down the Drain - Participatory Video made by sewage workers in Delhi
12:06
Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices

Down the Drain - Participatory Video made by sewage workers in Delhi

Down the Drain (Gutter main zindagi) is a participatory video made by sewage workers in Delhi. The video talks about the hazardous work that they do putting the life and limbs in danger, only to be stigmatised and looked down upon. The lack of accountability in the system, the historical injustice of imposing one caste of people with the indignity of manually cleaning drains and sewage lines along with the bane of privatisation, pushes the sewage workers literally and figuratively, 'down the drain'. This participatory video was made by Ravi, Mahender, Govind, Ashok and Lalit. It was facilitated by Praxis and supported by Delhi Jal Board Workers' Union, National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewerage and Allied Workers.
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