Singing to Land

Rukom ka Ri (The Many Lives of Land) | Rida and the Musical Folks

https://www.youtube.com/embed/t5wicKY-UhY

The video invokes the human entanglement with, and unsustainable exploitation of, land and nature. A mining tragedy in Meghalaya, where 15 miners recently lost their lives in a coal mine, is the inspiration for the song.

Sur Ka Mariang (Tunes of Nature) | Rida and the Musical Folks

The song is an exploration of how every land gets its identity by some form of nature that surrounds it be it a sound or a tree or mountain or river. Most villages in Meghalaya too are named after such landmarks from the natural worlds which are all beginning to disappear into the past.

Chennai Poromboke Paadal ft. TM Krishna | Justice Rocks

Poromboke is an old Tamil word meaning shared-use community resources like waterbodies, seashore and grazing lands that are not assessed for tax purposes.

This evocative video on poromboke in the Ennore Creek in Chennai was screened at our first workshop and sparked discussions on new ways of exploring and understanding land.

The Warli Revolt ft Prakash Bhoir | Swadesi | Azadi Records

The video features Warli indigenous artists from western India. They urge us to fight for the ones who don't have a voice, fight for those who are being pushed out of their lands, fight for the trees, birds and the leopards. Development need not be destruction.