Smriti – Dhwanigalu

A Field Trip That Was So Much More… Notes from Mysore

Smriti July 17, 2017

While living only an hour away from Mysore, none of our kishoris had ever been to the city. Most had…

Taking up Space: Questions of Mobility

Smriti February 9, 2017

Because my parents treat me like a boy I am allowed to wear shorts, visit places alone and meet my…

The Power of Platitudes: Challenging Language as a Tool of Oppression

Smriti February 8, 2017

Cultural vehicles often become a way to perpetuate the subjugation…

Dhwanigalu is our ongoing initiative to build agency, autonomy and leadership among young people in the margins. We began in 2016, with the support of the South Asia Women’s Fund (SAWF) initiating a year-long capacity-building program for strengthening the agency, autonomy and leadership of 85 adolescent girls in rural Mysore. Combining traditional and technology-mediated learning methodologies such as digital story telling, photo-essays, role-plays, simulation exercises and debates, we trigger learning dialogues at the grassroots.

Going forward, we plan to expand our work in this domain with dialogues for building the perspectives and capabilities of adolescent girls and boys, to question social norms that reinforce gender based discrimination, and cultures of violence. This is through our project – Namma Maathu, Namma Jaaga- a larger initiative working towards tackling the issue of gender justice and domestic violence.