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Society
SPARROW'S Flight to Success
by Fatima Chowdhury
The story of SPARROW is all about dreams taking wings and turning real
with time. For founder trustees - Dr C S Lakshmi, Dr Neera Desai and Dr
Maithreyi Krishna Raj - the setting up of the Sound and Picture Archives
for Research on Women (SPARROW) exemplifies that dreams are not mere
aspirations, they also define a person's sense of purpose in making a
difference.
In 1978, when Lakshmi, also a distinguished Tamil fiction writer under
the pseudonym Ambai, came to Mumbai with a background of research in
women's studies, she met Desai and Raj, both pioneers in the field. A
very warm friendship developed between the three women, who often
discussed the need to set up women's archives. But as Lakshmi says, it
took them 10 years to register the organization for they were
caught up with their own research. However, the necessity for such
archives constantly figured in their conversation whenever they met.
The concept of archiving women's history in India is still a relatively
unfamiliar territory, unlike the West where there are a number of
archives to complement extensive research that document the lives and
contribution of women in society. Lakshmi and her friends recognized a
decade ago that oral history could be used as an important source
material for research. "There was a need for a very different kind of
archives for India as there was so much history that was still to be
written."
Thus SPARROW was created with the belief that better understanding about
the lives of women; their history and their Endeavour for dignity would
eventually bring about the much-needed change in society.
So, what began as a distant vision slowly unraveled into a necessary
reality of documenting the story of Indian women by combining the work
of archives, a forum and a networking agency. The organization aimed to
be a unique national archive for women with print, oral history and
pictorial material.
The toughest part of SPARROW's birth (in 1988) was the financial
constraints as women's archives did not exactly fit into the agenda of
the government or funding agencies. At the same time, it was difficult
to find a team that would help in building these archives. Lakshmi says:
"In India, only those who don't get admission in any course opt for the
librarian's course. So motivating girls who had no interest in the
beginning to commit themselves to the cause of women's archives was very
tough and often heart-breaking."
The initial funding for SPARROW came from individual donations for
feminist calendars and diaries that both Lakshmi and Raj were involved
in and were brought out under the banner of a feminist group Reaching
Out. Today, SPARROW is being funded for their main projects by HIVOS, a
Dutch INGO and
supported by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust for their infrastructure expenses.
The perseverance to succeed has paid off, with SPARROW having a capable
team in place to help in building a comprehensive archive. Normally
archives are uninteresting places where people go to consult material.
SPARROW offers new methods of communication like films, sound material,
publications, website and many different kinds of networking projects
which aim at making women's history and the history of women not an
exclusive domain of scholars, but a part of understanding the process of
development from different perspectives. Thus, the archives created by
SPARROW are more vibrant and communicative than just a collection centre
of documents.
However, a humble budget that varies every year has made it difficult
for SPARROW to find a permanent location for its various projects. After
the earlier rented space of 500 sq ft and having shifted several times
over the years, SPARROW now occupies a 2,000 sq ft rented office space
with some 20 professionals involved in its archiving work.
Over the years, it has painstakingly created a sizeable collection
ranging from 410 documentaries in seven languages, 429 popular films in
six languages, 3,035 books in 12 languages, 3,440 journal articles in
seven languages and 7,009 newspaper clippings in eight languages. This
meticulous archiving is admirable as it preserves the past, acknowledges
the present and looks forward to a more promising future.
SPARROW has initiated a number of projects, including Oral History
Recording Programme (OHRP). The different language coordinators identify
the stories worth exploring and then SPARROW does the basic research
before recording the history in audio cassettes and later converting
them into CDs. The OHRP includes history of the feminist movement,
Ambedkar movement and experiences of Dalit women, communalism, violence
and human rights.
In the last few years, SPARROW has also published a number of reports
and translations as part of its written history project. So far, SPARROW
has published 14 booklets like `Standing on her own feet' by Kala
Shahani, `Colors Of Tradition' by Neela and `Menaka's Daughter' by
Damayanti Joshi to name a few. The latest is `The World of Maya', a book
of cartoons by the late Maya Kamath with more than a 1,000 cartoons.
The archives are meant for individual researchers, students, women's
organizations, media people, and communicators. Their archival material
is also taken into the public sphere through various innovative methods
like exhibitions, multi-media installations, publications and so on. The
recordings and publications are available to the public at an affordable
cost and the revenue generated from it helps to further fund SPARROW's
archival work.
Lakshmi recalls: "It was very difficult to get good professional
translators and also editors who had time to spare." Also, it is not
easy to find distributors for language publications and SPARROW is still
struggling with the distribution for some of the translated books,
especially Bengali, Telugu and Gujarati. SPARROW also holds a number of
interactive workshops with students from various schools and colleges,
covering a wide range of issues pertaining to women and their lives.
In the future, SPARROW plans to set up a gallery for exhibiting
paintings, photographs, visuals, art and craft work. It is working on
building a `museum of women's history' and plans to reconstruct events
in women's history through film strips and electronic images. There are
also plans for an auditorium, an e-newsletter and an FM radio station.
Lakshmi envisions a future where "archived materials would be brought
through imaginative ways to the public sphere and interactive spaces".
(SPARROW can be contacted at - B - 32, Jeet Nagar, J.P.Road, Versova,
Mumbai - 400 061. Phone: 28245958, 28268575, 26328143, e-mail:
sparrow@bom3.vsnl.net.in)
January 15,
2005
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
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Society
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