Migrants' Walk (2)

Thousands of stranded migrant labourers and their families have been making desperate attempts to reach their villages amind the lockdown in India imposed by the Centre and state governments to combat Covid 19. The police in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, found at least 18 workers hiding inside a cement mixer bound from Maharashtra to Lucknow on 2 May 2020.

Migrants' Walk (1)

When on 25 March 2020, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, announced immediate lockdown in the country to stem the spread of Covid 19, without a forewarning, it left millions of migrant workers unemployed and no way of sustaining themselves. While thousands undertook walking on foot, many rushed to the inter-state bus terminals before they too were shut down.

Independence and Freedoms

The whole Naga struggle, it is purely because of the invasion by India...this here is our land, this is ours. The coming of the English language too has given us new terms to describe us, including the word “indigenous” which itself is a way of saying that we are under India and it distorted our definition of who we are. After the British invasion, India too thought of us as a weak people and that it has a sense of ownership over us that led to the making of the state. It was an opportunity for Nehru to show a backup plan by giving us statehood which we didn’t ask for.

Staying in

“I barricaded myself and stared out the window, without seeing anything but my own unhappiness.”
― Thomas Bernhard, The Loser

Missing people in the last rites amid the lockdown

On the 26 March 2020, Case-1, the first Covid-19 infected person was found in Myanmar. All the schools and universities were immediately closed. Today, almost 27 Covid-19 infected people have been found in Myanmar and of them three patients have passed away.

Monitoring 'Suspected' Covid-19 Infected Individuals

A hovering drone being used to keep track of 'suspected' infected persons as they wait for their turn to be checked and processed, Nizamuddin, New Delhi, India. Standing in a line are members of a religious assembly awaiting testing and quarantine processing, who came from across India and Asia. This continued after lockdown started, and appeals to authorities to assist in evacuation initially did not get any response .

Labour of migrant labourers @ Covid 19

The photograph shows migrant daily wage labour walking through a deserted underpass on their way out of Delhi.

Staying in the Circle

I am at an ATM cash machine at 9 pm waiting in my circle for my turn. Ayanagar, New Delhi. It was the first time i found myself physically disatanced in public place. A big change from the evening before where I was jostled as usual in a grocery shop by customers at 8pm. "I thought that you were not yet buying, only looking," said the only one who bothered to answer.

Thet-pyauk-taing: The Memorial Pole

This oral narrative was collected by the students exploring the word concept - belief.

The guardian spirit was once an ordinary man. One day, while he was crossing the strem, he was bit by a tiger or kyar and died. The villagers erected a teak wood pole as a memorial to him and named it Thet-pyauk-taing. And from then on he became Taungthaman Bo Bo Gyi, the guardian spirit.

Taungthaman Bo Bo gyi (2): Strangers Beware

This oral narrative was collected by the students exploring the word concept - belief

“There are many beliefs that are linked with Taunghtaman lake and Taunghtaman Bo Bo gyi, our guardian spirit. I was told by my grandparents and we also believe that strangers who visit U Pein bridge should not shower in Taunghtaman lake because the bather will take the place of the one who died before him/her.

According to another belief, if someone misuses the word ‘kyar/tiger’ (an animal which killed the guardian spirit) and then visits the lake... that person dies.

Humanities across Borders

A Humanist Model of Collaborative Higher Education

Place