Where The Chasm Is Bridged

Welcome to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged, a podcast by Behind The Scenes. 

In this world where poverty runs rampant, children are pushed into the job market faster than they deserve. Following the theme of Child Labor, we have a book today, that captures the realities of Child labor in urban cities. Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth, is a fiction written in 2010. She follows the story of eleven-year old Gopal, whose family has recently moved to an urban city. There he gets coerced into working in a factory with extremely low wages and harsh conditions. Gopal uses his fantasies and stories to give the other children hope of escaping. 

All around the world, children are abused to work in factories and other hazardous industries. The main reasons could be because of the financial stress on their families or the huge debt that burdens them. In India, particularly, even though child labor laws do exist, it doesn't lower the numbers in any sense. 

Welcome back to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged! We hope you had a joyous Diwali with your loves ones! This episode talks about the ill-fated relationship between children and work. 

We see a Chhotu working at a tea stall or a Gayatri working in a car-repairing shop but we consider it their “majboori” and accept it as the norm. But why does this happen and is there a way out? Today, we discuss these crucial points in our podcast, by looking at a a few communities and industries to understand the situation better.

Hope you find this insightful!

Welcome to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged! 

Bringing to you the flavor of regional cinema, today we have a Tamil film called Thaen. Thaen literally mean honey which connects the love people have for nature. Directed by Ganesh Vinayak, the film depicts the struggles of a forest dweller who has no means or resources of getting treatment for his sick wife. Because he does not have the documents required by the government, he is exploited, humiliated and scammed at every stage of his journey just because he is a poor man with no power. The film also highlights how politicians in remote areas abuse their power to get what they want. 

The film captures the grim realities of forest dwellers in India and their lives are at the discretion of the rich and powerful. 

Welcome back to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged, a podcast by Behind The Scenes.

In this episode, we look at another aspect of Dignity of Labor through the lens of migrant workers. In conversation with Mr. Jignesh Mistry, we follow his journey through India, as we discover the circumstances of the migrant workers. Mr. Jignesh Mistry is a freelance photojournalist, who has been working in the field for over 11 years. Sir started his career as a nightshift news photographer at a daily tabloid during his graduation. Since then, his work has been published at multiple magazines, wire agencies and national newspapers. He is also involved in taking photography workshops for students in academic institutions. He has been engaged with the PAIGAM network and is a regular contributor at The Wire, The Press Trust of India and other international Wire Agencies. He has also been working with the Center for New Economic Studies as a Senior Research Analyst.

Many migrant workers throughout India had the desire to return home from their place of work, in order to ensure their families safety. Sir highlights the plight of the laborers and explains how they were left to fend for themselves when they lost their livelihood. Without adequate help from the government or NGO's (due to restrictions by State Governments), they were forced to take extreme measures to reach home. 

Welcome back to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged, a podcast by Behind The Scenes. 

Continuing with our theme of farmer's suicide and debt, today we talk about one of Munshi Premchand's most famous novel, Godan. Written 85 years ago, the book still manages to raise questions relevant and important to the modern agricultural society. The book captures rural India, in an attempt to understand the growing, never-ending debt that farmers and many landless laborers end up incurring. Following the themes of debt and societal pressures, we follow Hori and his struggles to pay off a huge debt, while trying to maintain his social status by owning a cow. 

While Peepli [Live] focused on the dignity of labor and how one's life is not in their own hands, Godan talks about the reasons for which a simple farmer could enter a debt trap. 

Welcome back to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged, a podcast by Behind The Scenes.

TRIGGER WARNING: Contains the theme of suicide.

I apologize if I have talked about it more lightly than I intended. It is a grave and serious matter and I understand that fully.

Today, we start with a new theme and a new issue that has, somehow, never been represented accurately. We have a film recommendation today, one that very accurately captures the extreme consequences of debt. Peepli [Live] is a 2010 movie directed by Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui. It revolves around the Manikpuri brothers who, burdened with debt, end up becoming a national issue of whether or not the younger brother would die. A situation that started with debt, ironically, ends with the same situation.

The movie takes a satirical approach to representing rural India and the inefficiencies of the government.

Welcome back to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged, a podcast by Behind The Scenes.

Today, we feature a book that captures the hard and crude realities of the varying menstrual experiences of women around the world. The atrocities and stigma that they have to face are the stuff of nightmares. Echoing the title of the book, It's Only Blood, written by Anna Dalqvist, it talks about how menstruation is a taboo around the globe, though it is a common, natural occurrence. It highlights the hardships women, especially underprivileged women, have to face in the pretense of 'social acceptance'.

While the book was written by a Swedish Journalist, the facts and ordeals remain the same, emphasizing the most important aspect, that periods, no matter where they occur, will always be just blood.

Welcome back to another episode! Today's film is all about menstruation and how it can lead to employment opportunities, either for making cloth pads or sanitary pads. Following the story of the film Pad Man, it conveys the message of how periods are stigmatized and considered as something impure. We follow the journey of a man who sets out to make low cost sanitary napkins as well as machines that manufacture them. It portrays the importance of hygienic sanitary products and its access to millions of women. 

Welcome back to another episode of Where The Chasm Is Bridged! Today we will be starting a new theme, one that has been silenced in the name of propriety and impurity. Following the work of Behind The Scenes and Kamakhya, I bring to you the interview of two incredible women who started these NGOs as a way to help create employment and raise awareness about the lack of menstrual hygiene. Kamakhya is an NGO that aims to eradicate period poverty in the country and promotes the use of cloth pads as against plastic pads, to reduce the amount of waste generated and for wider access.

Many girls and women in India are ashamed and even hate their periods for what society has stigmatized it to be. By helping rural women get access to safe menstrual products and teaching them how to stitch cloth pads for themselves, as well as for the purpose of selling, Project Coपल aims to eradicate period poverty and create employment for underprivileged women. Order your own cloth pads to promote many such rural women and help reduce the overwhelming amount of waste in India!

Link to Daraz: https://www.daraz.com.np/shop/behind-the-scenes/

Welcome to another episode of Where the Chasm is Bridged!

Today, following our theme of caste/class, is a book recommendation  which is Chowringhee, by Sankar, a Bengali novelist. It follows the lives of many employees, managers and guests at one of Calcutta's largest hotels, the Shahjahan. Set in 1950's, the story has remained relevant to today's times and captured, not brute, but true realities of an average worker.