From 38 entries in 2003, to 65 in 2004 and 85 in 2005, Jeevika have expanded its reach geographically, diversified the range of issues from sex work to dying art forms to manual scavenging to animal rights, aroused interest, made people debate, disagree and even dismiss, but most importantly made the audience aware of and appreciate the struggle for livelihood which defines our sense of identity, gives us dignity and, in many ways makes our existence possible. And that is why at CCS we consider livelihood a basic human right.
The response to request for entries for Jeevika 2005 had been overwhelming. The search for narratives on livelihood this year has taken us through 85 films (34 made by students) from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Serbia. The stories are told in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Marathi, Nepali, English, Konkani, Gujarati, Bengali, Telugu, Kurukh, Oriya, and Tamil; in their songs and shrieks; and sometimes even in their silence.
These struggles for a living have been fought at diverse locales…the Barakhamba road crossing in Delhi (Stop…Look..Go), Dharavi slum in Mumbai (Naata), Central Crematorium in Madurai (Notes from Crematorium), Beehives of Sunderban forests (The Worker-For a Drop of Honey), Polavaram Dam (Illegal Encroachment).. and have made us celebrate their ordinary protagonists like Vilas who is a washerman (Merging Shadows), Lal Topi Walas who clean ears as a profession (Lal Topi Wala), Shahrukh and Yadi, who are rag pickers (Platform No 8 and The Whistle), Paru Bai who carries garbage (Kagad Kaach Patra), Rangamma, who is a maid servant facing sexual and other forms of harassment (Dristi) and Sunil who sells balloons (Dreams).
These struggles for a living have been fought at diverse locales…the Barakhamba road crossing in Delhi (Stop…Look..Go) , Dharavi slum in Mumbai (Naata) , Central Crematorium in Madurai (Notes from Crematorium) , Beehives of Sunderban forests (The Worker-For a Drop of Honey), Polavaram Dam (Illegal Encroachment) .. and have made us celebrate their ordinary protagonists like Vilas who is a washerman (Merging Shadows) , Lal Topi Walas who clean ears as a profession (Lal Topi Wala) , Shahrukh and Yadi, who are rag pickers ( Platform No 8 and The Whistle ), Paru Bai who carries garbage ( Kagad Kaach Patra ), Rangamma, who is a maid servant facing sexual and other forms of harassment ( Dristi ) and Sunil who sells balloons ( Dreams ).
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