Conceived after studying that India could risk losing her rural beauty, PARI or People’s Archive of Rural India has vowed to keep alive the cultures, languages, hardships, victories and most importantly the people of rural India alive through their stories. Their initiative allows people to contribute to the stories on the platform. The Archive poses as a virtual museum to find parts of India that aren't to be found in regular museums that are dedicated to the great revolutionaries and personalities. The people of rural India find their voice and their stories finds its way to reach billions of people around the globe.

PARI has divided its content into stories, galleries, library and PARI education. The stories are further divided into things that they do in the world of rural labour, subject-specific anthologies, stories about craftspersons, artists and artisans, climate change, stories from agricultural India, short video clips which to speak for themselves, the migrant workers, stories of women, Adivasis, Dalits, communities and cultures. Unravelling the struggles of fighting for resources, the last of the freedom fighters, stories focusing on children, rural transport, wildlife and sports. The website also focuses on healthcare, folklore, livelihood, languages, the invisible women, clothing, headgear and videos and photos. The most captivating content they have is the work contributed by students.

“The Conjuring: making your brother disappear” - what was truly bewitching about the story is its title and the hunger that pangs in the nitty-gritty Nadia district of Bengal. The story revolves around the two brothers who are magicians and travel to small towns in order to make ends meet. The article follows the embedded multimedia package. It includes photographs and videos of the magic show and the manner in which the show is conducted. This aids the description of the magic show in the article. The reader is able to gain a better understanding of their work and the scenario in which they have to earn their daily wages. The story follows a linear method. It does not introduce the readers to the brothers and their profession but rather starts with an intriguing introduction to hook the readers. It then narrates an instance of a magic show with help of dialogues and structure.

Many stories follow a similar suit. They introduce the people in a unique and fascinating manner. Once the introduction is done, the story unravels and is accompanied by photographs and one video that is a link to their main youtube channel. There are real quotes that are taken from the people whose story is being told. They do not add too many elements along with the article. It is written in a simple manner and helps the readers gain insight into rural India through photographs and videos.

PARI has also published songs along with stories of the singers, their language and the region they belong to. The article consists of the song along with its translation and meaning. It is accompanied by pictures of the singers and an audio file for readers to listen to folk songs that are frequently sung by people in particular regions of India. Such articles are also in the form of multimedia embedded format. The multimedia adds value to the article and helps readers make sense of the story.

A category of audio-based articles also consists of video-centric articles that follow a visual narrative. The text surrounding the video acts as a complementary element. Titled as Fables from the rural, unseen India, Fuyaram Raika from Pali district in Rajasthan says that he has lived his life passing on stories. The story follows a linear format. There is a proper introduction of Raika and his story followed by a video of him being interviewed. Once again followed by a conclusion explaining the current situation of his dying profession of passing on stories.

A more recent venture for PARI has been the SoundCloud edition of audio stories. In order to capture the sounds of India, PARI has put together an audio library that varies in length. It avoids the routine format of a podcast but instead has adopted the natural flow of folklore and folk songs of the Adivasis and stories featuring in regional languages. Although it is a novel venture, PARI has taken its time to focus on the quality of the stories that have been uploaded. ‘Of God, an orphaned public and lost children’ lasting only two minutes and twelve seconds is a beautiful poem narrating the story of the struggles of living in poverty and the battle of living a decent life of hygiene and healthcare. The stories not only consist of narrated stories but also folk songs, untouched and left raw.

They have also invested in social media handles where they conform to the visual narrative format and still manage to follow their simplistic style of journalism. We see no frills and fancies decorating the stories. The story of Santo Tanti who sings a beautiful song about the oppression of the poor. The main focus of this narrative is the video which is accompanied by the captions embedded in the video and the Instagram caption.

PARI shares a very interactive relationship with their readers. The readers are open to send in their own stories to the organisation. Contributors for the organisation have special guidelines that need to be followed while submitting their stories.

PARI’s business model relies solely on donations by its audience and others. PARI gives an estimate of the actual cost of a fellowship. The fellows who work as volunteers for the organisation most often than not work by covering expenses personally.

The most significant aspect of PARI is the inclusivity of the hundreds of languages and unheard stories in the most simple yet captivating manner. There is a sense of real journalism and storytelling. They are unafraid of speaking and standing up for the oppressed and the neglected.

Pavithra Prabhu

Roll no - 20COM05

Final year MCJ