mgm | The Modern Story

As mentioned in a previous post, the students at MGM Government Girls High School in Nampally focused on freedom for their final documentary.

Though it was already an ambitious undertaking, the students had the energy and interest to go further and create something more. We talked a lot about how family and community often dictate what freedom means for girls, even for things as simple as whether they are able to walk outside at night or wear jeans. We discovered that freedom is a nuanced topic, especially for girls. Sometimes they wanted more freedom, other times, they felt that what their family, religion, or community dictated was okay. Regardless, they all mentioned that they don’t have this conversation often with their community.

One big part of the final stage of The Modern Story curriculum is a community service project. Previously, classes have done community outreach about dirty water, a clothing drive, and an activist art project that featured a portrait of the city’s sanitation manager made out of trash. For my MGM students, I thought that something that spoke to their work and their needs would be the most appropriate project.

Bhargavi works on issue 1 of “MGM Magazine”.

So we decided to make a magazine so the girls could continue the conversation about freedom at home. Using the one working computer in our classroom, I set up a team to do the layout of the magazine on Word processing and tasked them with interviewing their classmates about freedom, taking portraits, and typing up the answers. Most people wouldn’t be thrilled about typing for 60 minutes straight, but these girls jumped at the task. They learned how to change the font, make columns, and import a photo. Simple skills, but fundamental ones that can further their future media production.

They also showed off their interview and editing prowess, deciding on which questions to ask about freedom and which photos to use. Some answers are simple, others are profound. But it did provide an array of answers the help continue the conversation.

Once we finished the basic layout with interview questions and photos, I added quotes the students got from interviewing a local NGO, and extra photos from a portrait/photography project the students also spearheaded.

After a long (and pricey) night at my second home aka the photocopy shop with my now good friend Hamesh, we had 30 shiny bright copies of the first issue of MGM Magazine for each student to take home, as well as copies for the headmistress and a few teachers.

I hope the conversation continues at home, but if nothing else I am very happy these students have a physical copy of their hard work to show off to their families and communities.

And thanks to Issu, you can check out the digital copy of their magazine below! Enjoy and share their work!

Dec, 28

Karis

Project Tracks, Reflections, TMS Fellow Updates, Videos, Watch

azadi, child marriage, Education, freedom, girls, girls education, mgm, seetaphalmandi, swecha, tmsfreedomis, womens rights

TMS students take on ‘freedom’ in final projects

Azadi. Swecha. Freedom.

No matter the language or dialect, freedom (or lack thereof) is an idea that humans around the world grapple with everyday. For students at Seetaphalmandi Government High School in Secunderabad, Hyderabad, and MGM Girls Government High School in Nampally, Hyderabad, this idea lent inspiration for their final projects.

Students at both the schools participated in a social media campaign called #TMSFreedomIs. Using this hashtag, students reflected on what freedom means to them, took photos representing this idea, and shared their thoughts on Instagram. This allowed their ideas to extend to a wider and more interactive network of people. We also talked about what it means to be responsible on social media, an important lesson as kids start to use social networks at a younger age than ever before. The campaign lasted about three weeks and we saw responses from people in Delhi, South Africa, Minnesota, and Boston. It was a great lesson in how to use social media to create productive conversation.

Then students reflected on how they wanted to share their ideas of freedom with the world, which is where the two schools differed.

MGM: Freedom for girls has always been a point of lengthy discussion at this all-girls school. As we talked more and more about what freedom means to us, it became clear that freedom for girls is an issue that the class cared deeply about. Due to this, students at MGM split into various groups and completed interviews, research, and creative interpretations of freedom in order to create a varied look at freedom from a girls’ perspective. Though there is a ways to go, the girls agreed that talking about the issues is a very important first step, especially since issues like child marriage and the ability to go outside the home stem from family. The girls created a print magazine to accompany the documentary in order to show their families and community to start the discussion about freedom for girls at a local level. Check out their ambitious film here:

Seetaphalmandi: Since the students devoted a few weeks to a classroom exchange with a school in Thailand (and had already done a documentary project), we focused more on letting the kids dictate what they wanted to see from the project. In their video, you will see their social media contributions, a poster project, and interpretations of what freedom means to them. Students at Seetaphalmandi are always enthusiastic about using the cameras and creating stories, which definitely shines through in this final project:

Overall, these students took on a very tough subject and were able to express some very nuanced ideas. I am proud of their work and I know that this discussion will continue as they grow in their education and lives. Interested in seeing more? Check out the hashtag #TMSFreedomIs on Instagram.

Nov, 17

Karis

Reflections, Student Writing

clean, Hyderabad, India, mgm, nampally, projectcs, swachh bharat, youth media

MGM Voices

In addition to making these wonderful movies, the students of MGM also elected one of their crew to write a short essay about the topic of their movie. Below you will find out about two of the topics in their own words.

Stop Power Cuts

In our school, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Girls Government High School (MGMGGHS) we did a movie on power cuts. In the power cut film, there are many characters. We did this film shoot because now a days so many times the power goes out and during that time we can’t do any work. In this film, the children also go to school, and in their class the teacher is teaching a lesson. When she is teaching the lesson, the power goes out and the teacher cannot tell the lesson to students. So many times the power is going out like this, that’s why we can’t do our work successfully. Power is very important to human beings. When we can’t have power, that means in our home, school, etc, we will not have fan, light, computer, etc. We can’t use any of these things. That is why power is very important to us, and that is what this film means. Power cuts means we can’t do any work successfully. Power is very important to us. The power cut film tells this message.

Written by Akhila

(The power cut group includes: Maheshwari, Kavitha, Anusha, Varaikshmi, Sirisha, Sandhya, and Akhila)

Get Rid of Rubbish

Good morning everybody.

We are from MGM Government Girls High School Nampally, Hyderabad, of 8th class.

Our title is Rubbish/Garbage. We did a movie on this because we want to protect our world. It is especially important because of the Swachh Bharat campaign that was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. We want to explain to our world: don’t throw garbage anywhere, throw it in dustbins. Because from garbage we get illness, and from garbage mosquito and small insects will grow and bite people. From garbage we get diseases like poliovirus, infections, and malaria (etc). We want to tell the Municipal Corporation they should clean the road every day but they are not cleaning everyday. With garbage, children are getting illness and that is why they are not going to school– they are irregular to school and they are not getting education. Garbage is very dangerous to our life. In our surrounding areas we are not safe, so I want to tell our world: don’t throw garbage anywhere, throw it in dustbins.

We want to protect ourselves, so we tell our mothers to protect children and family, and our friends help us do the movie on Rubbish/Garbage. We are following Mahatma Gandhi’s rules and Narendra Modi, who is the prime minister of our country. He was sweeping 1 kilometer, that is why we should clean our house, surrounding area, schools, temple, mosque, churches, etc.

Thank you faithfully.

Written by Amreen Fatima

(The rubbish group includes: B. Savitha, Asra Begum, Qareena Begum, K. Bhargavi, Zabunnisa, Afreen Begum, K. Priya Singh, and Amreen Fatima.)

Nov, 11

Karis

Classroom News, Project Tracks, Videos

azadi, freedom, instagram, mgm, photo, seetaphalmandi, social media, swecha, tmsfreedomis

Introducing #TMSFreedomIs

#TMSFreedomIs

What does freedom mean to you?

What does freedom look like?

What does it sound like?

Smell like?

Taste like?

These are the questions my students at MGM and Seetaphalmandi are grappling with right now as they both head into making their final projects about the idea of freedom. Though you can look forward to some very interesting videos from them, in order to complete these projects we need YOUR help!

If you have instagram, think about the above questions and then take a photo that represents your vision of freedom. Tag it with the hashtag #TMSFreedomIs (and @themodernstory –> PS follow us! #shamelessplug) and your instagram may end up in one of the students’ documentaries!

The goal is to source opinions on this topic from all over the world. Though we know what freedom means to us, what does that mean when it is translated to the US or Thailand? What is universal about freedom and what is different for each person?

Feel free to be as creative as literal as you want, and the campaign is certainly not limited to students. Anyone can (and is encouraged to) participate! We’ll be collecting posts throughout the next two weeks. If you need some inspiration, check out the #TMSFreedomIs tag on Instagram– students have already begun posting their thoughts!

Thank you in advance. Now get ‘gramming!

Nov, 6

Karis

Classroom News, multimedia home, Reflections, The Modern Story Fellowship, Videos, Watch

documentary, film, Hyderabad, India, mgm, modi, psa, second project, short movie, swachh bharat, TMS, vimeo, youth media

MGM: Freedom For Girls

Constant talk of marriage, lack of parent support, street harassment, and cyber bullying: just a day in the life of a teenage girl? That’s what students at MGM Girls Government High School say in this short film about a girl named Zoha. Though Zoha wants to go to school (and has her brother’s support), her family wants her to get married and stay inside. But what would happen if she had her parent’s support? This movie explores both options.

The film also touches on issues that modern girls face, like harassment, bullying, and blackmail through cell phones. In India, where mobile phones are more widely available than ever before, this has become another tool for making girls’ lives harder.

Proud of these students for thinking of this idea, writing the script, filming, and editing on their own! Stay tuned for what MGM has coming next.

Nov, 6

Karis

Classroom News, multimedia home, Project Tracks, Reflections, TMS Fellow Updates, Videos

documentary, film, Hyderabad, India, mgm, power cuts, psa, second project, short movie, Telangana, TMS, vimeo, youth media

MGM: Stop Power Cuts!

Ever since Telangana split off from Andhra Pradesh in June, power cuts have increased dramatically in Telangana because Andhrah is where most of the region’s power originates. The Hindu newspaper reported that people in Telangana are facing power cuts between four to 18 hours per day. Students at MGM Government Girls High School in Nampally have taken notice– in the middle of the day there will be no light for a classroom and we can’t use computers. At night, they sometimes have to do homework by candlelight or flashlight– or not do it at all. This PSA shows how power cuts affect three students’ lives in order to shed light on this problem. The idea, filming, and editing was done almost entirely independently by this group, which is quite a feat given this is their first movie ever. Proud of their work!

This video is one of a series of three short movies that the students produced focused on spreading a message about an issue in their community. The students came up with the concepts, scripts, and shots on their own, in addition to doing all the filming and most of the editing. Given these are their first movies, I am really impressed at the outcome!

Nov, 6

Karis

Classroom News, multimedia home, Project Tracks, Reflections, TMS Fellow Updates, Videos, Watch

documentary, film, Hyderabad, India, mgm, modi, psa, second project, short movie, swachh bharat, TMS, vimeo, youth media

MGM takes on Swachh Bharat (before Modi)

One of India’s currently most talked about civic works movements is Swachh Bharat– Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to sweep the country’s streets clean of rubbish. MGM students were a step ahead of the Prime Minister, pointing out the issues with garbage on the streets and the poor infrastructure around trash pick up before the campaign even began. With this in mind, they have created a visual letter to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) discussing their issues and complaints around garbage in the city. They also include short fiction stories about how garbage affects citizens’ lives.

These students also brought up an important detail that specifically pertains to Hyderabad: population growth and infrastructure issues that arise because of it. From 2001 to 2011, Hyderabad’s population grew 87 percent, now resting at about 8 million. This massive influx of people, mostly from rural areas searching for better opportunities, has drastically changed the city and infrastructure has not necessarily kept up. I was really impressed with these students for noticing the nuances and context of this issue. Perhaps PM Modi should take notice!