Oral history project exhibits some of its collections at a conference

When the milkman knocked on the door, one woman was assigned to ensure that he didn’t cheat while milking the cow. In another recording, a woman described the coffee ice-cream at India Coffee House, which was on the menu for the princely sum of six annas. The stories of milkmen, local wrestling legends, entrepreneurs, murderers, and singers finally have a home, thanks to the Bangalore Storyscapes project.

The oral history project, founded four years ago by the Centre for Public History at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, exhibited some of its work at the International Oral History Association Conference in the city on Wednesday.

“There aren’t very good archives or books on contemporary history,” said Avehi Menon, curator of the Centre for Public History (CPH) and treasurer of the Oral History Association of India. Some of the earliest memories the centre has on record date back to the 1930s, with tales of orchestra pits and silent films.

The project also details how the city felt the tremors of major historical events in their day-to-day lives, said Ms. Menon. For instance, the flour rations distributed during the Second World War resulted in the iconic Koshy’s, which began as a bakery.

How it began

The centre began by collecting stories from residents of the Cantonment area, and the rich oral history they gathered inspired Ms. Menon and her colleagues to create walking tours in the area, featuring audio from their interviews. The walks are designed to bring the stories back to the people of Bengaluru, said Priyanka Seshadri, a tour guide.

“We wanted to allow people to take ownership of public spaces,” said Ms. Menon. “This is history they contribute to.”

The CPH team aims to add to their oral history archive in order to make the collection more representative of the city. Their current sampling features more men than women because of the project’s focus on public spaces. This is something they would like to rectify. “We began by talking to business owners on M.G. Road, and most of them are men,” Ms. Menon said.

As the project gained popularity, the organisers received funding from the India Foundation for the Arts, with the goal of integrating the tradition of oral history with photography, art and cinema.

Even as the centre subsequently shifted focus to cinema in the Cantonment area, women were excluded from the conversation. For instance, one interviewee recalled that his sister was barred from watching Hollywood movies as his grandfather was worried they were too violent.

Domestic matters

To correct this gender bias, the team is now shifting focus to documenting the domestic life in Bengaluru. “Some women tell stories of the milkman coming to their house and cheating them if they didn’t stand and watch him milk the cow,” Ms. Menon said, adding that people like milkmen and plumbers would be invisible to historians without the contributions of women.

One concern is that the project interviews participants only in English, a practice that self-selects those from middle-class or upper middle-class backgrounds.

Keeping these limitations of Bangalore Storyscapes in mind, the organisers are excited to be approached by citizens who contest the version of events showcased in the project. “We ask to interview them also,” Ms. Menon said, explaining that she has created a platform for a multitude of viewpoints. “The way India is moving with the changing of our history books, it helps to remember that there is no single, definitive narrative of what happened,” she said.

We wanted to allow people to take ownership of public spaces. This is history they contribute to.

Avehi Menon,treasurer, Oral History Association of India

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Kasturi Pananjady / Bengaluru – June 30th, 2016