A MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE

Rajiv Fernando, Ramalingam Meenakshisundaram
ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources, Hyderabad, India.

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We then moved on to interview a few more people, who were not clients of SML. This proved to be more difficult that we expected - some of the people were too shy to speak in front of the camera. We had to videotape some scenes several times and speak to them as if it was a normal conversation to put them at ease in front of the camera. Obviously, all this took a lot of time. And then there were the children who were our main audience (and at times a nuisance), following us wherever we went. Many of them posed happily for our cameras. Thanks to the influence of cable television, some of the villagers thought we were a television crew. Our coverage of SML’s activities and its members seemed to ignite greater interest in the organization among the villagers. The local SML representative had a difficult time answering questions from an increasingly enthusiastic audience. By this time, it was past noon, and we also realized that we were running behind schedule.

Although we had hoped to complete our shoot by noon and return to Hyderabad by evening, we could see that we were only half-way through the shoot schedule.

A quick lunch at the Katriyal’s only eatery (dirt floors, wooden benches, banana leaf plates, and a surprising tasty meal of rice and dal) and we were on our way to our next village. It proved to be a scenic journey, as we passed between sunflower fields with the flowers in full bloom, interspersed with parched farmland awaiting the rains. At our destination, we were to shoot the ‘compulsory group training’ and the ‘group recognition test’ - two prerequisites for membership into an SML group - that were scheduled to be held on that day.

Lighting conditions posed a problem here as we had a few indoor shoots. However we managed to complete the taping to our satisfaction. By sunset, we wrapped up our shoot for the day. We had ended up with over 120 minutes of raw video - much higher than our initial plan of 60 minutes of footage. All our reserve tapes were used up and we had just managed to squeeze in our last interview with the SML field executives before the final tape ran out. After goodbyes to the local SML staff, we returned, a tired, dusty, and thirsty - but happy - group, desperately seeking some much needed rest.

 

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