I recently watched an interesting film called The Doon School Chronicles. It is the first of a five-part series of ethnographic films about life at the Doon School in Dehradun. (An ethnography is a study of a culture – its rituals, traditions, social relationships, routines of everyday life, rules, songs, art forms, ceremonies, etc.)
Imagine doing such a study of a school, and capturing it on film! This is what filmmaker David MacDougall, an Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University, has been doing for a while. A wonderful storyteller, MacDougall takes you into the world of the school through the eyes of a few students, who share their thoughts and feelings about being at boarding school, the bonds they share with friends, the things they love doing, pranks, mischief, seniors, living away from home, etc. Sounds exciting? It is!
The other films in the Doon School series are: With Morning Hearts, Karam in Jaipur, The New Boys, and The Age of Reason. Apart from these, MacDougall has made a set of films on the Rishi Valley School in Madanapalle (Andhra Pradesh), and one on a shelter for children in New Delhi.
With holidays round the corner, perhaps you would like to do a small project like this? Of course, if you got friends to join you, it would be a lot more fun. There is so much you can do – prepare a set of skits, come up with a wall magazine, put together a photo exhibition for your school’s Annual Day, or start a blog to share your experiences.
So much of your life revolves around school: there are things you like about school, things you don’t like, your closest friends, the teachers you adore, picnics, assemblies, special events, your own drawings and poems, the games you like to play, your favourite places in school, the canteen, the library…the list can go on.
Sure, it is not possible to like everything about school. There might be bullying, strict teachers, piles of homework, unclean toilets, subjects that you don’t have the patience for, or just not enough time to play. You must share these things as well, but remember to suggest solutions whenever you can.
It is equally alright if you want to keep all this to yourself. Sometimes, there are things we do not feel comfortable sharing. A personal diary or scrapbook would be a good idea then. You can even invent a code language that only you can make sense of, to prevent the secrets from spilling out!
Start right away!
Note: This article appeared in Young World (Hyderabad edition) dated March 9, 2010
I watched ’The Doon School Chronicles’ at Prithvi theatre in Bombay, where it was screened by Vikalp: Films for Freedom
