Weaving stories with facts
This piece finds place in the February 2015 issue of Teacher Plus.
Walk in a village – a story
Walk in a village – a story
During a visit to Rishi Valley School (Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh) the teachers there
asked me if I was interested in addressing the junior school assembly. When I
happily agreed, they warned me that the students were the most difficult bunch
in the school and would not stop asking questions! I then asked the teachers
what I could talk about that would be of interest to them. They suggested that
I talk about life in the villages of Mizoram (as I had spent time there) and illustrate my talk with images, as this
would be interesting to them.
I pondered a bit and thought of
talking about my experiences in Nagaland, where I had during trips in the past
couple of years enjoyed many a happy moment. Also I had good photographs of the
place to support my talk. As I began preparing for the talk, sorting images,
and jotting points I realized that the structure of my talk was turning out to
be very similar to the kind of talks I was forced to listen to when in school—showing
images from a village and pointing to a home, a school
and so on. I remember I had never enjoyed these talks. Not wanting to repeat
such a session I pondered for a while on how to carry out my task. As I walked
in the beautiful campus, I recalled reading how a good presentation had to be a
story—with a beginning, middle or core, and an end.
I then thought, “Why not tell the young ones a
story about my Nagaland stay?” As Josh
Stearns stated, stories ‘are roomy
and accommodating, whereas facts are confined and exclusionary’. I decided
to create a story of the things that I came across in the village as I looked
for the meeting place. Yes, I had gone to the village to attend a meeting. The
story could start with my beginning the search for the meeting-location during
which I would come across landmarks
(core) and culminate with my reaching
the destination.
But as this thought began
taking shape I wondered how or why I was alone in the village. Did I have
enough photographs of landmarks from the village? So I developed a stronger
beginning to my story. I would share that I had been to the village previously
as well to attend another meeting in the same location. I was therefore
confident of reaching the venue by myself but got lost as I began walking. It
was difficult to find photos of varied elements from the same village and
therefore I had to use photos from different villages (in Nagaland) as being those of the village that had the meeting!
Story
This is how the story shaped,
guided in no small way by the images available -
I started from the football
field, which also had a volleyball court, situated at one end of the village.
This is where I told the other villagers that I would be able to meet, as I had
been there earlier and so could find the place easily.
I then came across children
playing in an amphitheatre—a place where villagers get together for events. Nearby
was a community place that had painted walls. The people in the village had
created lovely designs on the walls. These designs are specific to each tribe.
The houses that the tribes build too are so different from each other’s. A couple
of pine trees lay cut in the corner. Pine is a common tree in these parts. As I
walked further I saw that people had stacked firewood to take home—a primary
medium used for cooking in the village.
Reaching another part of the
village, I saw a house with a roof made of oil tins. The metal cans that oil
came in were flattened and used for the sloppy roofs. Another house, not far
off, had beautiful carvings and colour. But most houses in the village had walls
made of bamboo. This made sense because different species of bamboo grew in and
around the villages.
I turned a corner and saw a
familiar looking garage. I found the garage quite beautiful as it allowed
sunlight to come in through the gaps.
I reached my destination, the
venue of the meeting, and saw a wooden box, which I recalled from last time,
that people use to store grains as well as to sit on. Tea was getting ready in
the centre of the hall—the hearth in these parts sits in the centre of the
room.
The meeting began.
Looking
back
At one point, as I planned and
prepared, I had wondered if I was somehow misleading the students and whether I
should go ahead. I am glad I did.
Today, when I look back I
recall the session with happiness. I also realize I had put in images from six
different villages lived in by two separate tribes Ao and Sema from the districts
of Mokokchung and Zunheboto!
A friend, on reading, had said
“I see - you also write fiction on your
blog!” Simone Weil perhaps had a better answer for this when she said, “Imagination and fiction make up more than
three-quarters of our real life.”
Questions
And now a few of the many
questions that followed and told me the story had worked and worked well!
Where are you from?
What do you do?
Which village is this?
How far is it from Kohima (Nagaland’s capital)?
What language do the people in
Nagaland speak?
Were you able to converse with the
people there?
Did you go to the forest near
the village?
What is stored in the box?
What is the principal food of the
people there?
How many times have you gone to
this village?
Why did you go to this village?
Why are there no trees on top
of the hill?
What is that skull?
Does the skull also have
medicinal property?
Is mithun skull hung outsides
homes of strong people?
Do all families own mithun?
Is mithun costly?
Have you seen animals in the
forest?
What is the state animal and
bird of Nagaland?
*
Many thanks to Teacher Plus, Shalini, Rishi Valley School, Radha, Santharam and Koustubh.
The experience in Nagaland was on account of my association with FES, many thanks to the teams at FES and NEPED.
The print version says I stayed
for a few months in Nagaland which is an error.
*
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