C4D Research Field Trip to Taleghar
20-September-2014
A mix of jumbled personalities were the nineteen students who were a part of the Communication for Development Programme at Xavier’s Institute of Communications.
As a part of our ‘field research’ module, we visited Tide and Taleghar villages, in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, which was a 6 hour drive from Mumbai.
Far from all the city’s congestion and commotion, this rural setup was a relief cushion for most of us.
In the five days we spent there, researching and meeting people from varied yet similar backgrounds, we overcame all the stereotypes that we have been nurturing about rural India.
Our research in the village was categorized under four broad areas which included, Health and Social Determinants of Health, Impact of money order Economy on Women and Children, Impact of the Media on Youth, Addiction among Youth. Prior to stepping in the field, we had to develop a common quantitative tool (a questionnaire to carry out a census). Also, to facilitate the qualitative aspect of our research project, we developed a set of guidelines to be followed during in-depth interviews.
We stayed in Talegarh village, which was at a distance of about 2.5 kilometers from the main area we were to study-Tide. And thus, walking through narrow paths running between rice fields and streams cutting their way through, became a routine walk while it remained a distant adventure for other people in cities. The various fascinating stories we discovered, made the two villages an embodiment of the saying, ’It’s people who make a place interesting’. Pulling water from the well and feeding straw to cows are some of the rare memories that many students brought back.
According to research ethics, we were to present our findings and observations from the village to the local people. Accordingly, the four groups decided to prepare a skit each, on the issues they had worked upon. Some creative minds were successful in composing a jingle or a poem to bring out the message in a more comprehendible manner.
‘Good experiences are usually accompanied with hardships in life’ and in line with this was our field trip. Language was one major barrier while carrying out the research. Since majority of us had a shorthand in Marathi, each of us were assigned a translator. We also had volunteers from the village who helped in regulating our work in an unknown place.
This life altering experience has left all of us thinking over our perspectives towards life in rural India and in retrospect, our idea of a stereotypical villager needs to get reformed. As Developers of Communication, we have to act as a motivation booster in order for them to realize their ability in adding to the GDP of the country and also to bring them out of the shackles of social constraints.