Theses and Dissertations
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Item Open Access Aankh Micholi : Mapping The Spatial Practices and Visual Identity of The Non-Vegetarianism in The City of Ahmedabad, Gujarat(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2023) Raval, Rushi; Pandya, Vishvajit; Mazumdar, MadhumitaSince the beginning, Gujarat is widely considered by most people as a Vegetarian state. No matter what the facts and figures suggest about the rapid increase of the meat-consumption in Gujarat, the Vegetarian state image is still etched inside people�s mind even today.Meat-consumption and Meat-consumers have frequently faced backlashes from the Authorities as well as residents of Gujarat. The trip to any of the Gujarat�s metro city or rural village will yield the different story regarding people�s food habits, but due to the prevailing Mahajan influence on the Gujarat�s political and cultural canvas, Gujarat enjoys the image of being the most Ahimsak state of India. When one talks about Gujarat, one seldom talks about its traditional meat-dishes. For most people, Gujaratis are people who indulge in the tastes of Khakhra, Khaman, Dhokla and Fafda-Jalebi only!It is a matter of great surprise that how can a state which boasts the largest shoreline of the country can still maintain the status of being a Vegetarian state for this long! In the field work, I have observed that the non-vegetarian eateries are present in large number in few areas of the city and they have the regular flow of customers as well. Their visual identities also show different patterns, which respond the areas in which the eateries are located. The outlets have found safe locales for their survival and they announce their presence in very subtle yet, affective day. This work is an effort to understand these spatial practices and the relation of the visual identity of these non-vegetarian outlets. As the place changes, the visual identity elements of the shop changes as well. They have to constantly change their visuals according to the demand of the context and the project tries to convey this narration through the help of maps and images. The maps are chosen since the story has complex layers of spatial practices and in order to link the visual with the location, an interactive format of the map is required.The narration is an amalgam of the maps, images and text to study the phenomenon by mapping the spatial practices and understanding the visual identities of the non-veg eateries in the case of Ahmedabad, Gujarat.Item Metadata only Changes in the Bardic traditions of Gujarat(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2019) Kadegia, Bhavik; Pandya, Vishvajit; Mazumdar, MadhumitaThis project is to understand the importance of bards in culture, Specifically in culturally rich Saurashtra of Gujarat. Here, one can witness the solidness of the belief and pride in their heritage, which is becoming obsolete in the rapid and blind modernizing word of today. Bardic Communities like Barots and Charans have played an important role in this. Because their way of living heavily depends on the traditions which carry the culture as well as their inherited folk literature, which is a regional industry itself which has imbibe the new technology of the present day.There has to be a path that these communities passed through to reach their current status. There was a socio-political system in the past that depended on these communities. I took Charans and Barots initially as they are the most influential of all the bardic communities in Gujarat as well as most well-known also. Today what we see them as a result of their journey, this project is to uncover the narrative of their story and co-relate the different node in past to translate the history into a logical analysis, employing ethnographic methods, with historical and social literature.Item Open Access Aasharyathaputhanvidu Migration in Identities(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2018) Tharian, Roshni; Desai, Binita; Modi, JayminUntil the 1950’s, ours was a Syrian Catholic family in Prakanam, Pathanamthitta district of South Kerala. Despite relative widespread education, there was little hope for employment in the state. This propelled a large movement of Malayalees across the country. In the 1950’s, Ahmedabad was running to the siren of the mills. My grandfather became one of the several Malayalees that had given in to the appeal of the textile mill industry. They dominated clerical positions in a state that planned to carve its identity as an industrial haven. Migratory influx from Kerala toward Gujarat was thus sustained. Malayalees were to fill up positions that the locals were not addressing. The prospect of a regular salary was highly desirable to the Malayalee population. But the city offered more than employment. With increase in numbers, communities began to cluster. The sixties saw the coming together of a new community, that shared the common tale of financial responsibility of those back home. The arrival and settlement of migrants revived a dormant church in Ahmedabad that had hitherto held intermittent services for floating populations. The Vatican II council in 1964, in its revised worldview set the church and the migrants on the same footing; to acquire the local ethos. Consequently, with each generation, the migrant population learned to find a sense of belonging in their destination city, having little in common with the identity and struggle of the previous generations. This documentary attempts to record the movement in identities of Malayalee Catholic migrants to the city of Ahmedabad. The church becomes a core aspect, that finds symbiosis in its relationship rearing the migrants that grow up to contribute significantly as able members of the church.Item Open Access Fishing in common waters: fishing communities in coastal Gujarat(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2015) Shiroya, Hardik; Desai, BinitaThis report presents the design of a Graphic Novel as a storytelling medium; communicating ideas visually. The design project was initiated with an aim of communicating culture of coastal Gujarat to the rest of Gujarat through stories, specifically folktales of the Gujarat fishermen. The objective of the design was to try to fill the gap between these two groups. The graphic novel format was chosen for the purpose of sharing stories visually and in an interesting way, the medium seemed most appropriate and chose to create a graphic novel as the final product for my project. The confirmation of visualizing a Graphic Novel as the final product was done by interviewing a few children and taking their views on the medium. Compiling a collection of folktales and proved unfruitful and rather ineffective. The focus of the project then shifted to doing research on their culture and preparing a story in the form of an ethnographic narrative. The research work was done on the Kharwa, Koli and Machhwara communities with the field sites being Veraval, Jaleshwar, Sutrapada, Diu, Ghoghola and Vanakbara. Developing a story for the Graphic Novel with the data gathered from the field turned out to be the most important part of the process. After several iterations of trying to construct a narrative, one option was selected which also seemed exciting to visualize. The plot of the final story describes the scenario of the Kharwa and Machhwara communities; the lives they lead and about fishing which is their livelihood. The narrative is built around the relationships among the people within the community and their relationship with other communities made explicit through their history, fishing business and their relationships with each other at sea. Efforts have been made to include all aspects that are crucial in defining their respective cultures. The flow of the story is maintained by incorporating the facts that were gathered in my field visits. Scenes from the story were visualised through rough sketches drawn on paper. A track was kept to maintain the continuity in the drawings and modifications were done to them according to the story. The rough sketches were turned into detailed drawings with pencil and were filtered to be organized in panels of the Graphic Novel layout. The product worked out to be an effective representation of the culture. It establishes the idea of stories as a good medium to convey stories of different cultures and perspectives.Item Open Access Siddis of Gujarat: contrasting perspective(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2014) Pukadyil, Roshini; Desai, BinitaThe vast population of the sub-continent of India is composed of different ethnic groups with diverse cultures and languages. There are many instances in Indian history that record the arrival of foreign immigrants who have settled, flourished and adapted to the Indian culture. For example to avoid religious oppression by the Muslims, many Iranians migrated to India and formed a Parsee community. They integrated themselves into the Indian society in terms of national citizenship and languages but simultaneously maintained their distinct ethnic identity, traditions and behavioral practices. Another such instance from ancient times is of the Siddi community who were the immigrants from African who mainly came as slaves and a few of them as traders. This project attempts to create a digital experience of their rich culture, their adaption to the locality they settled into and the conflicts that exist within the community. In the process, I identified a communication problem within their social, economical and political context and the conflicts that followed owing to the inability of one group to empathize with the problems of the other. I focused on two major settlements of the Siddis within Gujarat which are the Junagadh tribal and the Ahmedabad urban district. I ended up observing the both the communities had contrasting stories to offer of their past, their culture, its preservation and the present status. For example, the Junagadh Siddis have been provided Scheduled Tribe recognition by the government, which seemed to unfair to the Ahmedabad Siddis, since they are not given any such special acknowledgement as they live in an urban space. The end result of my project is a documentary film on the community showing recognition of their identity, the difference in their lifestyles and how these dissimilarities end up becoming the reason of personal grievances and conflicts. It also helps in bringing to light the Siddi community and the disparities within the community and society at large. Objectives: 1. Exploring and first understanding the Siddi community residing at the urban (Ahmedabad) and rural (Junagadh) areas of Gujarat. 2. Identifying a communication problem present within the community. 3. Using a medium that appeals to a large audience.Item Metadata only Patola: the ikat of Gujarat(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2014) Shah, Namita; Mazumdar, Madhumita; Raje, NitinAny discussion of Ikat weaving in Gujarat begins and ends in the Patan Patola. The Patan Patola is indeed the finest representation of the ikat in Gujarat and also the most expensive in the market but, the Ikat of Rajkot and Surendranagar also stand at the same level in terms of quality and aesthetics. In recent times the Patan Patola has also received the Geographical Indication (GI) certification to protect its distinctive identity and ensure its survival. This is indeed a matter of pride for the Ikat weavers of Patan. But other weavers of Ikat located in Rajkot and Surendranagar have felt threatened by the new distinction conferred on Patan and have complained that the market for their Ikat could be impacted. After consultations with specialists at ATIRA and after doing extensive ethnographic research among consumers and the Ikat producers of Gujarat at the Garvi Gujarat annual exhibition, I felt that one way addressing the concerns of the Ikat weavers of Surendranagar and Rajkot would be to promote their products on a platform that would showcase Ikat weaving traditions in Gujarat as a whole. Hence, I chose the platform of an interactive multimedia kiosk because I thought in could reach out to wide range of consumers at an exhibition site that brought together both weavers and consumers at a single location. The interactive kiosk could be situated easily at the ground of the Garvi Gujarat exhibition as well as other similar exhibition sites where audio-visual promotional material on textiles mainly films were. Already being used to educate consumers. After looking at the response to these films that were being shown at the exhibition ground, I realized that consumers visiting the exhibition grounds had little time to sit through an entire film. They had time constraints and wanted to do a quick check on the product they were buying. In there circumstance is was better to develop a communication strategy that would provide them with the relevant information and give them the choice to seek out whatever they wanted. A film did not gave them that choice. The multimedia interactive framework would bring together the story of Ikat in Gujarat, that is bring out the distinctiveness of each of its weaving centres and allow the consumers to make an informed choice about the product they would wish to buy. This interactive multimedia kiosk, at the heart of textile exhibitions, besides communicating the story of Ikat of Gujarat to the consumers, would also brand Patoda a s’Ikat of Gujarat’ and not separately as Patan, Rajkot or Surendranagar Patola as well as encourage tourist to visit Rajkot and Surendranagar along with Patan to see and understand Ikat of Gujarat. This will also help weavers from these two regions to sustain themselves and establish their identity as equal contributors as protectors of Ikat tradition of Gujarat along with Salvis of Patan.Item Open Access Generating recommendatins for agricultural crop production(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2012) Jain, Yash; Chaudhary, SanjayAgricultural Productivity depends on large number of parameters such as climatic conditions, soil quality, socio-economic factors, cultural practices, cultivation factors, technological innovations etc. The change in climate has a significant impact on the crop production. Scientists all over the world are trying to model the change in climate and various parameters affecting it. A huge amount of spatial data is available regarding climatic conditions, agricultural productivity etc. The data is available at varying resolutions. Applications of spatial data analysis in generating the rec-ommendations for farmers is considered. We specifically consider for cotton crop in North Gujarat region. A recommendation system is developed which helps farmers in various stages of farming. An extensive knowledge base in the form of ontology is also developed to provide support for better reasoning. The future extensions of the work includes the development of web based interfaces and a service oriented architecture to access the system in a platform independent manner. The recommendations would typically help the farmers choose the appropriate fertilizers, pesticides, cultural methods etc.Item Open Access Reducing climate vulnerabilities of cotton farmers in Banaskantha (North Gujarat)(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2012) Sharma, Amita; Chaudhary, SanjayThe multiple regression models is used to analyze the effect of frequently changing weather, like wide uctuation in monsoon rains, extremes in temperature, etc. on the cotton crop in North Gujarat Region. The study is basically focused on Banaskantha district of North Gujarat using data from 1991-2008. This study is conducted in two parts: (i) rst part contains analysis on monthly rainfall with respect to cotton yield and (ii) second part contains analysis based on different weather parameters like total seasonal rainfall, average temperature in degree days, relative humidity, and soil moisture with respect to cotton yield. Results from the statistical analysis are veried by the information collected from expert agronomists on cotton regarding different growth stages and different requirements of cotton in those growth stagesItem Metadata only Evaluation of Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme in Western region in Gujarat(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2011) Nirala, Hariom; Hiremath, B. N.; Sinha, VikashHunger and nutritional status adversely impacts learning process of children. It contributes to increased dropout rates. It is collective impact is reflected in human development index. It is in this backdrop that Government of Gujarat (GoG) had introduced Mid Day Meal scheme. The considerable portion of children studying in primary education come from low socio-economic society and suffer economic hardship, as a result they drop out from schools at early age, which hampers their overall development Poor enrolment and high dropout rate are the result of poverty of parents, child labor prevalent in the society and lack of awareness. In the event of the funds not reaching on time, the Sanchalak or the teachers as the case may be have to pay from their own pockets. Usually this has been the most vocal complaint from the sanchalak and the teachers. Most principals suggested that they be relieved from this arrangement. Arrangement of water is a tremendous problem in some talukas the water has fluorine content which is causing a lot of physical harm to the children. In banaskatha the source of water is often far away from the school. So the supply is quite rationed. Arrangenenr of fuel is also problematic since the allocationis quite less, the cooks are asked to collect fuel on their own. There was one school in which roti saag was not being prepared for some time because of the lack of fuel. Infrastructure is also a problem. There are no pucca kitchens in place where the Mid Day Meal is cooked within the school premises, it distracts the students’ attention Also there is no provision for plates in the school. The children get them from their homes and where they do not they tear paper from their textbooks and notebooks also. The collateral benefits of MDM were expected to reduce burden of poverty on poor parents and caste discrimination in the society GoG started MDM scheme in 1984 this study has been commissioned to assess the situation and take corrective measures for improvements.Item Metadata only Video documentation of success story of watershed development project, Gujarat(Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2011) Abhay Kumar; Prasad, Manoj Kumar; Sharan, Girja; Menon, Binoy; Rout, SuvenduWatershed development programme is a flagship programme started by Government of India to increase the crop production by arresting soil erosion and ensure irrigation facility to farmers. In Gujarat, Ministry of Rural Development had started DDP, IWDP and DPAP in all districts of the state to increase crops production. Under the programme the main focus were given for providing irrigation by arresting run off with checkdam and ensuring irrigation faculty to farmers. This programme has brought changes on the economic status of he farmers and their quality of life as income from agriculture has increased. Before the programme farmers were taking just one crop in a year but now due to the watershed programme farmers taking two crops in a year without fall. For the present study four villages were taken viz Gandhigramme. Anadara and Vasiaya in the districts Kutch, bharuch, Rajjot and Vadodara respectively. It has been observed that the productivity of crops has increased for animals. Due to the watershed programme the employment opportunity has doubled. Indeed the programme has achieved the objectives for what it meant for. By collating the information about the impact of the programme, a video documentary on the success story was envisaged.