Atul Purty

Shodhvahini Media Collective

Atul Purty is a Munda man and was born and raise in India. He currently works for her own media firm named Shodhvahini Media Collective, which works for indigenous storytelling. Since he spent his maximum period of life in the tribal region, Atul has experienced how the mainstream media stigmatized the various indigenous viewpoints. The food, culture and the practices which have their own significance in tribal life, have always been disesteemed by outer world and the media. These concerns are rooted in his academic orientation. It was during his MPhil in School of Human Studies at Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), that Atul developed a critical lens towards Indigenous people and their identity. As part of it, he undertook action research in one of the remotest villages of Jamui district in Bihar, India. The work dealt with the livelihood and the way of living of the Santhal Indigenous community, which occupied the lowest social status because of their affinity towards the forest and culture, which was considered archaic. After completing his M.Phil, he was looking to work on these issues and I got an opportunity to work on a UKRI-funded project, GRTA CHIRAG, which was focused on promoting indigenous food practices and ways of living through community media. He produced several podcasts and community films with local youth volunteers. When he heard the community responses, he knew the effectiveness of community media. Atul observed the change in perspective of both the audience and the content creators. Since he belongs to an Indigenous community, it was also a self-transformation project for him, and this was when he developed an interest in media, ethnographic documentaries and community films. After this project, he registered his own media production house along with like-minded friends and now they are aiming towards creating an alternative space that will represent indigenous voices.

Follow: @atul_jiwan /// @shodhvahini.co.in