Sandesha DP

This Grant was amicably cancelled based on reasons mutually agreed upon by the Grantee and IFA due to unavoidable circumstances.

Sandesha DP is a human resource professional and a theatre practitioner. His father is a traditional Doddata performer. This is the first time he is attempting to use his professional experiences and knowledge imparted from his family tradition for an artistic intervention with fifth and sixth grade students of the Government Higher Primary School at Upparageri village in Harappanahalli in Bellary district.

When we learn history in school, we only focus on events that affected a nation or large parts of the world like industrialisation, world wars, and economic depressions. While this is significant to study, local histories which often narrate the stories of ordinary people in our own vicinities are important for us to understand who we are. They form a more radical way of telling history using oral traditions, social and cultural practices, art forms, objects found in the region, and the sites themselves. Local history thus is a powerful tool that contributes to place making and the construction of identity. Sandesha through this project will attempt to engage the students in understanding one aspect of their local history. 

Raja Somashekara Nayaka of Harappanahalli - the legendary hero of this region, was not a king but a commoner with extraordinary vision, and organising and mobilising ability. Stories about him exist in the form of ballads, folk songs and legends spread among commoners. He is known to have conceptualised and created an advanced water management system in the region. The children will study this and the various lakes and water bodies created by him that are there across the district. The children will also learn the Doddata performative art form which is from this region and express their associations with water through it. These activities he hopes will develop imaginative abilities among the students while also helping them to connect to the lesson Neeru – or water in their textbook. During the project Sandesha wishes to engage Doddata performers as facilitators to conduct a series of lecture demonstrations and workshops. He will also invite resource people from the region to educate students about the cycles of nature and conservation of groundwater. 

Sandesha’s project is a collaborative one in which students share their findings with other local peers. It enables students to understand their own history and enhance their awareness of its significance to their present lives. It also aims to form and develop academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork and develops research skills using a variety of sources such as interviews and books. 

A Doddata public performance by the students will be the outcome of the project. The deliverables of the grant would include photographs and video documentation of the project. 

This grant was made possible with support from Citi India.