Taaza Khabar: Meera's Travelogue (Bishakha Datta)

Taaza Khabar: Meera's Travelogue

Director: Bishakha Datta; Cinematographer: Ranu Ghosh

Duration: 00:38:26; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 31.785; Saturation: 0.172; Lightness: 0.320; Volume: 0.144; Cuts per Minute: 3.408; Words per Minute: 40.501

Part of footage of the film Taaza Khabar directed by Bishakha Datta and produced by Nirantar. The film is about the journey of a team of all women journalists of Khabar Lahariya (a grassroots newspaper published by the women themselves) through several obstacles. The determined efforts are to ensure the 62nd issue of Khabar Lahariya reaches its readers on time. The women are from Chitrakoot district in U.P. who report stories that find no space in mainstream media. It also portrays how these women have created their own space and established their identity in a context where patriarchy and caste-based discriminations are dominant. In this event, Meera, the editor of Khabar Lahariya asserts her identity as a woman by visting a tea stall and interacting with men in that public space. She then visits the home of another Khabar Lahariya journalist, Mithilesh, who shows her around her large rural household. Towards the end, Meera reports on the environment degradation at a Bharatkoop hill due to stone quarrying.

Mira (M) - There's no one, no driver?
Mira giving out Khabar Lahariya for distribution to a group of men surrounding her
Man: That's ok, give us the receipt later
M: (While writing the receipt) No, I don't come around here often, will you take the responsibility of distribution for us here in that case.
You write the address and your name. The Rs.2.50 would be worth spending I tell you.
bus
distribution
driver
group
khabar
lahariya
news
people
publicity
rs.2.50
spend
stop
waves
Karwi, Chitrakoot
vehicle
Meera, the editor of Khabar Lahariya, walks around the village trying to publicize the newspaper and getting readership. She sits among a group of men and explains a few details about the newspaper. She is then seen sitting at a tea stall on a bench, reading the newspaper and having tea. This is a significant scene, as Meera stands out being the only woman in that public space. She is surrounded by men around her, who are having tea and reading the newspaper. Meera's ability to comfortably occupy that space is an important reflection of her freedom to assert herself as an equal citizen, despite being a woman.
Bharatkoop, Uttar Pradesh
bharatkoop
cement
company
degradation
flowers
gender
hindustan
house
journalists
khabar lahariya
land
mira
mithilesh
natural
news
resource
rural
space
vegetables
waves

M: You meet me definitely after the 21st, at home and get the woman also along with you for work. Speak to her first, show her the newspaper.
ambiance
drink
gender
identity
impose
newspaper
read
space
tea
viewer
woman
work

M: It takes about five people. Please shift so that I can also travel
destination
five
jeep
mode
pave
people
shift
travel

Meera's vehicle arrives, and she makes space for herself in the crowded jeep. The jeep takes off to its destination. As Meera is sitting at the edge, her bright pink saree is visible from the outside. The jeep passes through long stretches of roads lined with trees, driving past vast green fields. The journey shows the landscape of Karwi/Chitrakoot.

ambiance
district
landscape
shot

Allahabad
M: Mithilesh
Voice: Who is there?
M: Didi, Namaste (greeting in the Indian greeting or parting phrase. It is a Hindi word which is commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists. In everyday context it does not have a religious connotation)
Mithilesh (ML): Come
M: How are you?
ML: I am ok
M: Where is your bahu? (Daughter in law)
ML: She is making food
What are you making?
Bahu: I am making aloo (potatoes)
ML:This is my sister in law's house
M: Where is she
ML: She is sitting inside
M: The chulha (Biomass cook stove) is on, and she is gone?
ML: Ya, there is food being cooked and she has gone somewhere.
ML: This room is my brother-in-law's house. We use this space, they stay in Allahabad
Whose food is being cooked here?
Well today the kids are fasting because it is Janmastami. (It is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu - who is the third of the trinity,
Brahma- the creator, Vishnu- the preserver, Maheswar- the destroyer; the trinity as per the Hindu mythology.) So there the food is for the children and here it is for us.
M: And here?
ML: Here we perform the pooja, (a form of worship that symbolizes dedication and belief) our Bhagwan (is a Sanskrit word that means possession of good fortune, but in traditions of Hinduism it refers to the supreme being that has a personality. It is analogous to the Christian concept of God) is instilled there
M: Everyone in the house performs the rituals together?
ML: Yes everyone does it together
M: You have a big house Mithilesh
ML: Ya it is a big house but one cannot manage the cleaning
M: How do you do it everyday?
ML: Now it is the rainy season, after the rains, we will put mythoon and then all of us will clean it together
M: All these also belong to you?
ML: Ya, all these are ours, from here till the gate
M: This is also your house?
ML: It is the landowner's house, he stays in Allahabad
ML: This is where we rear the cows; I have two cows and a calf. They have gone grazing.
M: Is this Bhindi? (ladys finger)
ML: Ya I grow them myself
M: So do it better, with the support sticks for the climbers.
Someone has a shop here?
ML: Ya, this is the space, under this the shop is laid, it belongs to my brother-in-law
M: This is your house?
ML: Ya this is my house, I am growing vegetables and flowers here, this is the bel flower
M: There are thorns here
ML: Ya it is a jungle of thorns
M: What is this?
ML: This is bel here, it blossoms in the afternoon
M: What is this?
ML: This is the suran, (a kind of a Yam) one has to sow it and after three years and then they grow. One smashes it and then it is boiled and mixed with tamarind and then we make the pickle.
M; Where did you get the plant from?
ML: It came from my native place
M: And what is here?
ML: This place stores the hay for the cow and the leaves and branches of the tree when we got married.
M: You have a big house, you can redo it properly if you want to
ML: I know but we do not have the means for such a huge investment. We keep cleaning it and using it.
M: Your son and daughter in law stay there, you all are here?
ML: Ya, and this is where we sleep in the night
M: In the open? Don't you all get scared?
ML: No, because the main gate is closed, so there is nothing to get scared of.
M: You are done for the day for your work?
ML: Ya, now I will go take a bath and freshen up, everyone have taken a bath; I am the only one left
M: Who all are there in your house?
ML: I have two of my sons, a daughter in law, and my husband. I have my brother in law and sister in law.
M: Where is your younger son?
ML: My younger son must be around
M: What does your elder son do?
ML: He stays at home
aloo
analogous
bahu
belief
bhagwan
bhindi
biomass
boil
brahma
brother-in-law
buddhists
christian
chulha
clean
climbers
context
cook
cow
creator
daughter-in-law
dedication
destroyer
eighth
fast
flower
food
fortune
gate
god
graze
greeting
hay
hindi
hindu
hinduism
hindus
home
household
husband
incarnation
indian
investment
janmastami
journalist
jungle
kids
krishna
lady's finger
landowner
maheswar
mythology
namaste
parting
perform
phrase
pickle
pooja
potatoes
preserver
rain
religious
ritual
rural
sanskrit
scare
sense
sequence
shop
sister-in-law
sleep
smash
son
stove
suran
tamarind
thorn
tradition
trinity
vegetables
vishnu
work
yam

Meera reaches Mithilesh's home (Mithilesh is another journalist with Khabar Lahariya). Mithilesh welcomes Meera warmly into her home and takes her around, showing her the place and explaining things on the way. It's a typical rural household made of mud with several rooms covering quite a huge area. Mithilesh holds Meera's hand and takes her into the pooja (prayer) room, which is filled with pictures of several gods and goddesses. Meera tells Mithilesh that she has quite a big house. Mithilesh agrees but says that having a big house can be a problem too since cleaning and maintaining it can become a task.

Interior architecture of the house
M: It belongs to someone else?
ML: No this is the back side of the house; the work on the wall is very old
M: Who did it?
ML: It was made by the artisans, not by people in the house, one of my grandfathers's had gotten artisans to do this.
M: And the carvings on the door?
ML: The carvings on the door are done my Meena, my sister-in-law's daughter.
architecture
artisan
carvings
daughter
grandfather
meena
old
basket
bottles
chaarpai
chain
colour
cot
coup
daughter-in-law
door
engrave
feet
frame
gods
grind
handprints
hindi
house
kitchen
ladder
lamp
latch
line
mirror
night
open
pattern
picture
pot
pots
prayer
purple
reflection
roof
room
rope
saris
shelf
shot
smoke
thresher
tokri
tradition
white
window

The two women walk outside and Mithilesh shows her a few vegetables that they grow in their garden. She tells her that they have two cows. She then explains the process in which one of the vegetables is grown to make achar (Achar is a form of Indian pickle). Meera again observes that she has a very big house and that they should rebuild it well if they want to. Mithilesh responds saying that they don't have enough money to do that, and will continue to clean and maintain the house to use it.

Meera asks her if she finished submitting her work, and Mithilesh tells her she did. She informs her about the amount of time it takes to travel to reach Khabar Lahariya's Karwi office, saying that if she leaves at eight in the morning, she reaches the office only by ten thirty. They walk around the exterior of the house and Mithilesh shows her the nursery with plants and names several of them. She explains that since vegatables are expensive in the market, they grow their own vegetables in their garden. All the family members share the household work and help in maintaining the nursery.

M: When do you go to Karvi for the work of Khabar Lahariya?
ML: When I have to go for work I leave from here by eight in the morning that is the time the first jeep that goes from here in the morning. And I reach by 10-10.30 in the morning.
M: There is a way from here too
ML: Ya there is another way out
ML: Here we have brought down the wall and then we got some open space here. They got the colony here. After that they got 10,000 rupees as the compensation. They did not get the rest of 2,500 rupees however the sealed document says they got twelve thousand bucks.
M: You all did not get anything?
ML: No, we do not even fill up the forms, and then they said we are from the upper caste, and we are not in dire need, so they did not give it to us.
M: Where do you get water from?
ML: We get it from the well
000
2500
allocate
caste
colony
compensation
document
eight
form
government
jeep
morning
rs.10
seal
space
upper
wall
water
well
Sirawal Gaon

The cow moo-ing
M: What is this Mithilesh?
This is my garden
It has marigold and I have a pomegranate tree, I have a lot of vegetables, like gourd, pumpkin, this place has been prepared to grow the vegetables
M: Why did you grow the garden?
ML: We had lots of space that was being wasted and then the vegetables are also expensive, so I decided to put in my effort and grow the vegetables.
I do not grow them to sell them in the market but for our own consumption in terms of everyday use.
The flowers we use for the pooja and people from the village also come and take it
M: The corn has dried
ML: Ya, I was not around, so we could not till it and it all dried.
M: You also have papaya
ML: Ya there is papaya and there is bitter gourd
M: I will take bitter gourd from you surely.
ML: Ya when they grow please take it
ML: I also grow potatoes and chilies. They are in the fields. Here there is dhaniya,(coriander) methi (fenugreek) and palak (spinach) and some chilies too.
There is brinjal (eggplant, aubergine) and tomatoes too. There are the flowers here
Why did not you put it in order, it would have looked pretty
We are rustics, so whenever we obtained something, we dug up and planted the seeds, there was no conscious method we followed
If you would have planted all of this in order it would look nicer. Not just sporadically it grows.
Ya I have tried to follow some order but…
M: When you are not around, who takes care of the garden?
ML: In my absence there is my brother in law, my husband, they all take care of it.
M: So when it grows you all consume it
ML: Ya it is for all of us
aubergine
bitter gourd
brinjal
care
chillies
consumption
coriander
corn
cow
dhaniya
eggplant
fenugreek palak
flower
garden
gourd
marigold
market
methi
moo
papaya
pomegranate
potatoes
pumpkin
seeds
spinach
sporadic
tomatoes
vegetables

interior
wall

They go to another part of the house, which looks grander, and has cement walls and pillars on the outside. The door is made of wood and has big handles unlike in the previous parts of the house. Various designs and patterns line the walls. A few basic utilities like a mirror, bottles, a lamp, kitchen utensils and other objects are located in different parts of the house. A colorful line of sarees hanging across the room and pots covered with purple cloth give the place some vibrant color, as most of the house, both interior and exterior is covered with shades of brown. The place has a quiet and peaceful ambience, with the occasional chirp of a bird, a buzzing fly or some distant conversation from another part of the house. A few other parts of the house are captured such as a window latch made of steel rods, a pot on a lit chulha (Biomass stove), a chaarpai (a kind of a cot) standing against a wall and the weaving on the rope of the chaarpai, a cane basket (called 'Tokri' in Hindi) hanging on the wall, mud steps, a chakki (traditional Indian grinding machine) in the corner of the room, a thresher and ladder against the wall, coups engraved in the walls with a pattern to keep lamps at night.

ambiance shot

This part of the clip captures the outdoor ambience of a location in Bharatkoop, with hills and a little bit of greenery. Meera reports about the environmental degradation of the area. She reports about how one year before, the Bharatkoop hill used to be a very green hill. However, in 2004, the Hindustan Cement Company started stone quarrying in the area, after which the hills have become a stone pit. As a result, many fields which are located right below the hills go to waste. Khabar Lahariya was the first newspaper to write about this serious issue. She signs off with her name, her designation as journalist, and the name of the newspaper. The clip also captures how Meera has to endure several takes, and she fumbles with her lines. The several retakes irritates her, as her expressions show how she is clearly not pleased about having to repeat the same lines over and over again. The last and final take has Bishakha encouraging her to do one last perfect shot of the reporting. She reluctantly agrees, but this take finally works.

M: One year ago this mountain in Bharatkoop used to be green. Hindustan Cement Company started digging the place in August 2004 which has turned this green mountain into barren land. It has destroyed the agricultural lands of the farmers. The reporting of this important issue of deforestation was first reported in Khabar Lahariya. I am Mira, reporter, Khabar Lahariya.
detrimental
extraction
india
mnc
natural
resource
2004
agriculture
august
barren
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deforestation
degradation
environment
green
hindustan cement company
issue
land
report
shot

M: From the beginning again?
M: One year ago this mountain in Bharatkoop used to be green. Hindustan Cement Company started digging the place in August 2004 which has turned this green mountain into barren land. It has destroyed the agricultural lands of the farmers. The reporting of this important issue of deforestation was first reported in Khabar Lahariya. I am Mira, reporter, Khabar Lahariya.
retake

Voice- One more shot, last one, you are doing well

M: One year ago this mountain in Bharatkoop used to be green. Hindustan Cement Company started digging the place in August 2004 which has turned this green mountain into barren land. It has destroyed the agricultural lands of the farmers. The reporting of this important issue of deforestation was first reported in Khabar Lahariya. I am Mira, reporter, Khabar Lahariya.

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