We saw the film twice at our office and John shared his views on the film and the approach we could adopt while organizing screenings for students from middle schools (classes 5, 6 and 7). These would also be John’s introductory efforts with film screening and working with me together on a programme. During previous months he had conducted colouring sessions on primates and while I was involved in planning them with him he was alone during the events. We read write ups on earlier experiences we had had with film screenings and an article of ours on the topic, got relevant details of Point Calimere from the “Protected Area” list, enlisted mammals and birds depicted in the film segregating them into those occurring in Saiha region and else wise and confirming local names. We also discussed sequences that were of particular interest to us, if they would generate similar level of excitement with students (and their teachers) and whether we would pause the film midway at these points to enable us to interact. Broad themes of discussion were narrowed down on and seperated into those to be discussed before screening, during screening and post screening. Of course we also got chocolates for our friends!
Preparations in form of these protracted deliberations are a marked departure from our practice during my stint at our Meghalaya field base; of conducting dry-runs. These deliberations lay a platform for an accomplished performance as also allow space for further panache. The screenings were held at Presbyterian school on 25th and Model school on 26th of June 2009.
At the Presbyterian school the noise of the students in classes, other than those involved in screening, permeated through to the class of screening. This made it difficult for the audience to catch audio on the computer (an Hp 14” laptop) and it was not possible to put the speakers to use either! We realized we had to scale up our actions of interpreting the film to build and retain interest levels of audience.
At times we paused the screening and asked students to identify the species visible on the screen. The answer would generally be in Mara or Mizo (two languages primarily used in the region). As we wrote the English names of the species we asked the students to share the Mizo or Mara names; also having them suggest the spellings of these This gave them an opportunity to speak out ~ have them involved as and also slowed the process ~ gave them time to absorb and react mid-day.
At the Model school, on the chital (Axis axis) appearing on the screen we asked them to identify the wild animal. While some said it was sakhi (Barking deer ~ Muntiacus muntjak) and some sazuk (Sambar ~ Cervus unicolor) few also referred to it as saza (Serow ~ Naemorhedus sumatraensis). We shared the name and took the opportunity to discuss that local names (Mizo, Mara or Lai (3rd language used in the region) would exist for species that occurred in the region. Chital, we discussed, was not found in the region but occurred in large numbers in other places in our country and was also known as spotted deer. I also came across a poster in the staff room that depicted giraffes and zebras!
Field guide for mammals we have used to enrichen the process by showing select species (occurring in the film) in course of the screenings. However, on observing the small sized and allured audience we took a step ahead. We paused the film with Bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) on the screen and handed over the book to a group of students to find the species; the exercise was repeated with wild pig (Sanghal ~ Sus scrofa) . It was heartening to see their large excited eyes scan the book and look for mammals. We then shared briefly of the book.
Removal of species from their habitats (both ~ hunting and keeping as pets) is a threat to wildlife conservation in the region. While in the coming period our conservation education programme will devote energies to these issues we contemplated discussing them at available platforms. We asked if they had seen macaque (zawng) and the answer came in positive with broad locations of residences that had them as pets. Here we discussed the importance of wildlife being in their actual homes. Introducing Point Calimere we discussed local term(s) for lake and moved on to enlisting the major lakes in Mizoram. One of them Palak was situated in Saiha region and while all had heard of it none had seen it! When large groups of birds at Point Calimere appeared on screen we discussed that if we wanted our Palak Dil (lake) and other places to have such wonderful friends we would have to quit hunting wildlife (including use of catapults).
Organizing the screenings, after a brief hiatus was interesting and I envisage further such invigorating experiences in the coming months.
Thanking principals, teachers and students of both schools and Sekhar Dattatri for sharing his films.
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