Nandini DM

This Foundation Project, implemented by IFA, engages eighth grade students of the Government High School in Anekere village, Channarayapatna taluk, Hassan district, through a project titled Naavu mattu Kere – We and the Lake. The initiative involves a series of artistic explorations centered on the Anekere Lake. Through these engagements, students will explore how the village community relates to the lake, and how, in turn, the lake reflects and contributes to the social, economic and cultural life of the village. The insights gained from these explorations will be integrated into their science, social science, and language curriculum. Nandini DM will be the Coordinator for this project. 

Nandini DM is a folk artist from Dindaguru village in Channarayapatna taluk. She has had long engagement with folk tales, rituals, songs, and local art forms and a deep interest in folk traditions that has informed her artistic sensibilities. Nandini holds MA and B.Ed degrees and has worked as a teacher in several schools. She has conducted special sessions on child psychology and learning through folk arts, developing creative pedagogical approaches through workshops to make learning more joyful for children. In addition, she has directed theatre plays as well. Given her experience, she is best placed to be the Project Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA. 

A lake represents the cultural, social, and economic foundation of a village. Just as every village has its own sacred grove – vana, many also have their own lake – kere.  The village where this project is centered has one such lake – Anekere. According to local folklore, elephants once depended on this lake for drinking water, and over time, a few families settled near it, giving rise to the village now known as Anekere. It is also believed that a goddess resides on the bank of this lake, worshipped as Anekere Amma. Her annual festival is celebrated not only by the people of Anekere but also by those from the surrounding villages of Sagatavalli, Nimbehalli, Shettigowdana Halli, and Malenahalli. This project will explore the settlements around this lake to reveal a rich tapestry of folk tales, legends, customs, and festivals that have evolved in relation to it. 

In the first phase, the project will explore and document the cultural practices and rituals of villages surrounding Anekere Lake. Students will collect and record information about these traditions. They will identify the cultural ties between local deities and water bodies through folk forms such as Mari Kunita, Kolata, Ranga Kunita, Somana Kunita, and Arevadhya. They will interact with village artists to understand how communities have preserved their identities and traditions within changing social contexts. Alongside this, project will study livelihoods such as fishing, dairy farming, and other lake-based occupations. Together, these explorations aim to develop a holistic understanding of the social, cultural, and economic life around the lake and integrate these learnings into the school curriculum.

A lake is a wondrous world in itself. It holds within it aquatic life, the water cycle, and diverse plant species, forming an inseparable bond between human and animal life. Therefore, in the second phase, through a series of workshops, students will collect various texts from their social science, science, and language curriculum to juxtapose it with the lake. For instance, there are the lessons on socialisation, family relations, and community life in their social science textbook that are closely connected to the concept of Naavu mattu Kere – We and the Lake. While the textbook discusses how a society functions within a civic framework, the project will help students explore the social and community dynamics around the lake in parallel. The project will explore the poetic and linguistic aspects of folk traditions. Students will observe how Kannada poems in their textbook can be composed in folk tunes, and then attempt to collect similar songs, sobane verses, and proverbs inspired by the lake. 

Overall, the project integrates curriculum lessons with experiential, place-based learning, encouraging students to conduct research, document their findings, and produce a comprehensive book based on their observations and creative explorations. This handbook capturing the multidimensional study of the lake and its surrounding life will be compiled by the students themselves, with guidance from the project coordinator, teachers, and the local resource persons throughout the project. Also, all their findings will be culminated into a one-day exhibition in the school premise. This will be the third and the final phase of this project.

The outcome of the project will be a series of workshops, an exhibition, and a publication. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will include copies of the publication, photographs and video documentation of the entire project. 

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Education programme in the manner in which it attempts to connect students and schools to the cultural knowledge of the regions they inhabit and communities they live in. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees. 

This Foundation Project is made possible in partnership with InterGlobe Foundation.