Zariyein II

Zariyein II explored the economic, social & cultural significance of a network of bazaar buses that connect villages in rural Meghalaya with the urban market centre of Shillong, also the capital.  Bazaar buses are the lifeline of these villages and Zariyein involved people associated with the bus (regular passengers, bus staff, people who work in the bus stand in Shillong and inhabitants of some villages in the East Khasi Hills district) to understand what they thought of and felt for their bus. Ten people at various nodes of the bus took photographs of the ways in which they relate to the bus. Photographs and conversations with them referred to various aspects of the bus – about their villages, the journey, happenings on the bus, the city, the market, the importance of the bus in their lives.

A selection of these photographs was assembled in the form of a photo scrap book, a narrative of the journey of the bus from the village to the city and back. The same scrap book in two versions was circulated in some villages in this district and the city of Shillong for four months. People could go through these books, write what they felt or associated with the photographs, draw or add more photographs. Some of these photographs were also taken to six villages on various bus routes in the area.

This public viewing led to many things; comments on each photograph, anecdotes and recollections. Significantly, photographs also became a medium to talk about larger concerns of people living in these areas; concerns of health, livelihood, education and access.