Introduction
Folk Media, as we use the term, is any sort of art or communication created by an individual, a small business, nonprofit, or an informal group, created outside of the influence of big media companies or other large institutions. A folk media-maker can be rich or poor, liberal or conservative, young or old -- there are no ideological or demographic prerequisites to engage in folk media.
In Orissa, more than 99% of the population is still unaffected. It therefore becomes imperative to continue intensive communication efforts that will not only raise awareness levels but also bring out behavioural change.
Knowledge is power. Information is a tool. Behaviour is action. Change is a process. But both information and knowledge is only a necessary but not sufficient condition for behaviour change. Folk media is the tool of behavior change, by combined use of mass media, traditional and interpersonal media having the effect of behavior change and de-stigmatizing social problems.
Humans communicate with one another in a variety of ways, including verbally, kinesthetically, artistically, and literarily. In small groups, students will choose a type of folk art representative of one of these methods of communication, and present their findings in a research paper. The class will then create a multi-arts presentation as they reproduce examples from one of the genres of folk arts.
Evolution of human communication is inextricably linked with the function of life. It is a vehicle, through which we develop, maintain and improve human relationships and is also a tool for social activity and civilisation. It leads people from instinct to inspiration and creates common pool of ideas, strengthens the feeling of togetherness through exchange of messages and translates thought into action. But before the evolution of communication, our ancestors used to communicate through non-verbal gestures followed by spoken, written, printing and tele-communication. And in the latest communication era, we communicate via IT or Information Technology.
The various phases of communication developed with transmission of ideas, thoughts, beliefs, knowledge, opinion etc. This act of communication is transmitted through media like oral communication, which is the traditional form of communication. Indian ethics, culture and tradition were primarily oral in form. The ideas and messages were communicated through folk tales, myths, epic stories etc and were disseminated by wandering people. Similarly, traditional folk communication folk theatre, folk songs, puppet shows, ballads, folk religious discourses constitute a rich resource, which can be usefully harnessed for bringing about desirable societal changes for accelerating the development process.
The traditional forms of communication constitute a potential source for conveying messages for economic and social development. Although communities and individuals have utilised a wide range of media – local fares, puppet shows, street theatres, folk songs and ballads for health and family welfare campaigns but the result has been miniscule.
With time, we developed into an ‘advanced’ society where puppet shows, fairs, street theatres are dying out. Though
Information is key to any development initiative. Keeping this maxim in mind, Disha has devised two sets of information dissemination strategies targeted at two sets of people: community and the world beyond community.
For informing the world beyond community, the organisation brings out brochures, annual reports and other documents from time to time. The web site of the organisation is a powerful medium of information dissemination to this category of target audience.
At the community level, information dissemination takes place mainly through street plays and puppet shows. The organisation has a full-fledged communication team, with its members hailing from adjoining rural areas. The communication team is proficient in preparing puppets and writing scripts for puppet shows and street plays in local dialect. So far plays and puppet shows on themes like indebtedness, dowry, wages, communalism, ban workers, diversification of agriculture, etc., have been prepared and staged.
Some of the plays and puppet shows developed in the recent years are:
1. Chashika Nutana margodatrshna (Farmers towards New Direction)
2. Apnaka Bank (Our Bank, a play on SHG)
3. Andher Nagari (Foolish People)
4. Mo stri kamo karani (My Wife Doesn't Work)
5. Jatiya Ekata (National Integration)
6. Panchayati Raj (Local Self-Governance)
Folk media Communication
Non-Governmental Organisation or Government sets up stalls at various Melas, local Mahotsavs etc. to increase the reach of the awareness campaigns. To encourage and ensure maximum participation, on-the-spot quiz competitions and prize distribution is done at a number of places.
Street play
Street plays continue to be major awareness building elements through entertainment even in this electronic era. It was hinted from the large crowd that gathered up to witness street play enacted in the Ganjam District to create awareness regarding the social issues.
Dinda Dhangedi dance
Dhangedi in Kui language means unmarried girl. Dinda Dhangedi means grown up unmarried girl. Like this Dinda hangadias are unmarried youths. These unmarried maids and youths dance together to choose their life partners among themselves. They dance and sing to the rhythms of tribal instruments under the spell of liquor. Almost all the Kandha Villages of Ganjam District, specially is Bhanjanagar area, such dances are performed. Now, modern culture has out-dated it.
Benga Benguli Dance
It is a seasonal dance. In the summer season, the young boys clad with Jamu branches dance in groups holding frogs and visit the doors of different houses. The purpose is to appeal the Rain-God for rain. The house-wives, throw turmeric Waters to these dancing boys. They roll on the grounds under scorching Sun. It is a ritual dance.
Daskathia
Originated in Ganjam district, this traditional folk art was at once, popular in Orissa and in other parts of the country, making a vivid presentation of Orissan culture down the years. The performers used to get patronization from king, landlords and society. Time has tarnished the joy, the artists used to derive out of their sincere performance. With the advent of modern modes of entertainment, it has nearly disappeared.
This group consists of two artists, who sing and dance giving rythms to tab pieces of wooden sticks, less than one foot long. Being originated in Ganjam it has spread to different parts of Orissa. It is popular in the villages of baragada, seragada and Digapahandi of ganjam district.
Culture of the Ganjam district
The folk culture of Ganjam is the representation of their everyday life and habits of the native inhabitants. The cultural heritage of the Ganjam district is envisaged from the folk dances of the native inhabitants here. The socio-economic and the cultural life of the native in Ganjam are revealed through the folk dances. The dramas and the songs associated the folk dances depict the cross currents of the daily life. Moreover the folk dances, which are the representation of the cultural life of Ganjam, are even famous across the country.
Prahlad natak is a form of traditional theater with a one-play repertoire from the southern district of Orissa, is commonest in Ganjam. The dance is performed on an open stage at the summit of which the throne of Hiranyakashipu is placed. The text of Prahalad Natak, containing 120 lines is a mixture of Sanskrit and colloquial Oriya. The cultural dance itself is the representation of the social life of Ganjam.
Gotipua Nacha is another facet of the cultural dance of Ganjam, which has attained immense popularity in the recent times. Love in different forms is the key theme of this dance and acting. The participants are two to three boys dressed as female and dance to the tune the beautiful love and cryptic songs of Kavi Samrat Upendra Bhanja.
Ghanta Mrudanga is the representation of the cultural life and beliefs of the Vaisnavas in Ganjam. Ghanta, Mrudanga combined together present the folk music of the Vaishnava sect, where the main deities of adulation are Radha,
The cultural life and habits of Ganjam is also evident from Bharatlila, the most colorful presentation of Folk- Dance prevalent in Ganjam. The leading story of Subhadra Parinaya is the crux of the entire performance of the dance and the associated drama.
The key theme which dominates the folk dances of Ganjam is the presiding deities of the inhabitants, who represent that religiosity is an important trait of the cultural life of Ganjam.
Apart from the folk dances, concentrated on the religious theme, there are also some other dances, which depict the essential social life of the inhabitants of Ganjam. Kotishala is the most rural from of Folk-dance. Its main instruments Kula (winoing item) and Handi (earthen Pot), accentuate its rural and rustic form of performance. Danda Nritya replicates the development in the art of living since the nomadic till date. The Animal Mask Dance is an important facet of the cultural life of Ganjam. The dance popular enough is mainly performed during the marriage ceremony.
The cultural life of Ganjam is evident from the folk dances and the associated stage performance and songs describing the social life of Ganjam.
Ganjam District is rich in folk play, yet to other District of Orissa, Folk plays in Ganjam District have not received due academic support, though they reveal its history, heritage and rich tradition as well. In short, folk play may be defined as wisdom of the people inherited form oral tradition that regulates their lifestyle whether through rituals, play or symbols.
Folk Arts as an Effective Mass Media
The word 'Tradition' implying customs, habits and way of life existed in a society for a long period of continuity from time immemorial and practiced from one generation to another. It can be transmitted through written scriptures or by word of mouth. The nomadic primitive people sharing a common cultural heritage based on oral tradition are generally said to have a folk culture. Folk implies the people's participation and spontaneity. Folk culture in a society is seen in four different forms:
1. Oral tradition: These include mostly verbal arts or expressive literature consisting of spoken, sung and voiced forms of traditional utterances like songs, tales, poetry, ballads, anecdotes, rhymes, proverbs and elaborate epics.
2. Material culture: These are visible aspects of folk behaviour such as skills, recipes and formulae as displayed in rural arts and crafts, traditional motifs, architectural design, clothes, fashions, farming, fishing and various other types of tools and machinery.
3. Social folk customs: These are areas of traditional life, which emphasize the group rather than the individual skills and performances. They include large family and community observances and relate to rites of passages such as birth, initiation, marriage and death or annual celebrations, festivals, fairs, ritual and ceremonial gatherings, market occasions and rural meets.
4. Performing arts: These consist of traditional music, masquerades, dance and drama.
Among these, the Oral tradition and the Performing arts appear to be the main media of communication. Storytellers, singers, minstrels and other kinds of folk entertainers have acted for centuries as sources for the transmission and dissemination of news and information through face-to-face live communication. Families, social groups and community gatherings served as the main flora of communication and sources for feedback for the folk performers. The values, attitudes, beliefs and culture of the people are propagated, reinforced and perpetuated through these folk forms. The issues in a society are depicted in the form of satire by the folk artists for curing societal evils.
Folk Dances
Folk dances are a spontaneous human expression of the joy of living. The forms may change from place to place but the rules, or the lack of them, in this field, are guided entirely by the spontaneity of the moment. Every country has its own variety of folk dances. Folk dances in
Folk Music
Music appeals to the physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual instincts of man. A child is contained by the soft strains of music though it does not understand the language and meaning of the song. The smoothing tones of the lullaby have the power to put the baby to sleep. Adults find rest and relaxation at times of stress and worry by listening to rhythmic music. In all spheres of life - private or public, in villages and in towns, in times of peace and in times of war, in social and religious functions and in the life of the individual - music is absolutely essential. In
Folk Songs
The foresters of the woods, hill-men of the mountain ranges, fishermen of the seaside, the dwellers in the river basins, boatmen and the mariners all these follow their own traditions. They are humble and contented. Their family ties were fostered by age-old customs and they had supreme faith in an all - powerful providence. Often, this faith of theirs in a Superior being manifested itself in their love for a tree, a stone, an animal, a river, a hill, a forest, or even an idea. Until they developed agriculture, the main occupation of the people was hunting and food gathering. Later they came to occupy with tilling the land, after converting it into small plots for ploughing and working hard to reap a seasonal harvest. Agriculture demanded their full attention and they were kept fully occupied while sowing and reaping. In between, there was leisure and rest from the basic demand of the tiller's life-hard manual labour. This was the time for recreation for song and dance to lighten their lives. When they had satisfactory harvest, their feeling of joy and exhilaration found expression in song and dance. Social and family gatherings and celebrations also gave rise to song and music. There are the folk songs that colour and reflect the lives of the peasants in all their variety and fullness. The anonymous folk songs are rich miniatures representing the lives, the joys and sorrows of the village folk. These songs and dances convey to us the aesthetic sense of people. The unique feature about them is that they belong to the community. The authorship of the songs is not of our concern because they are preserved by oral tradition.
In cultured societies, a song may be distinguished from music. The functions of the two artists, i.e., poet and musician are quite different here. However, among the common people, they are one; song and music go hand in hand. Apart from entertainment, folk songs are sung to teach the child to walk, to dance, to drink milk, to eat food, to play, to count, to be industrious and good-natured. The child receives home education through folk songs, which are unforgettable and everlasting.
The spirit of singing is the source of folk poetry and music is its very soul. The intensity of emotion, which the oral repetition imparts to the folk song, is its heartbeat. The peculiarity of the folk song lies in the fact that every member of a community takes a more or less active part in its ceremonial function. Though everyone may not exactly sing the song, the song is known to and enjoyed by all to the heart's content. Their active participation is in contrast to the passive hearing of an audience assembled in musical and literary gathering in a city nowadays. In a folk song, we have only the singer. He may sing alone or in a group with or without the accompaniment of musical instruments. It is believed that the folk feeling and melody are inseparably intermingled in a folk song. Actually, the text of the song and its melody do not form an integral unit and the bond may be broken. The same song may be sung in different tunes in different parts of the country or even in the same locality. This is corroborated by the fact that the singer forgets the basic melody and sets the song to his own melody. The tunes may change from age to age or from one person to another. There is no fixed notation of music or a set tune though it becomes difficult to find out the basic melodies. A few melodies in comparison with a large number of texts testify to this fact. We find different versions of the text and melody prevalent in a country. One tune of the text expresses joy and another tune of the same text sounds sad and depressing. The tie of the musical features with the emotional aspect of the song seems strong. But it is not always inseparable. Folk people are unable to express a mood or emotion unless they make use of musical terms of city usage.
Folk Theatres
Primitive man began to express his thoughts and views by way of raising some alarming sound to convey fear, trumpeting his success in war with animals and fellow being and by crying to express his loss and grief. The signs of bodily expression and vociferous expression of human beings have been pruned, polished and changed as architecture. Refined forms of such sounds are classified as lullabies, dirge, music and songs. The raising of voice with physical expression became the art of folk. When folk arts were staged as entertainments, they became folk theatre. Folk theatre performances are closely associated to celebrations such as birth, marriage, death etc. There are a number of fertility rites linked to food gathering, the earth, the sun and the moon. In these, the immediacy of life experiences is recalled in sound, rhythm and movement. Dramatic action with the form of spoken words and gestures makes its appearance. Since Indian society was nurtured in the oral tradition where the bulk of learning was transferred through the narration of stories, myths, hymns, and songs; it is only natural that one of the ways through which they expressed their feelings about social problems was the theatre.
Folk theatre emerged as a powerful means of social communication in traditional societies. Man utilized his talent in folk arts and theatres not only as a mode of entertainment but also as a source of conveying information. The folk dramas that originally yielded pleasure to the villages and the town people alike were transformed into stage. These stage plays have descended into street plays, which deal with the day-to-day problems of people. The street plays being realistic are devoid of the traditional make-up, costumes and screens, and the characters are more life like. Their sole aim is to communicate to the people, which they understand easily and encourage them. These street plays reach people at every nook and corner. The feedback will be immediate. The language employed by these media is the common idiom of the society. Hence, it is easily comprehended by both the educated and the uneducated audience. Therefore, the folk dramas were very popular from the medieval period and they are being used as a good media system even today. The folk dramas staged by the rural troupes in all the stages help in promoting mass communication.
Advantages of Folk Media
The appeal of Folk media is quite personal and at an intimate level because it has got direct influence on people. As in the case of colloquial dialects the familiar format and content of mass media gives much clarity in communication. The numerous and different forms of mass media can be exploited to cater to the needs of the people for immediate and direct rapport. The folk media is so flexible that new themes can be accommodated in them.
Ganjam folk forms are a mixture of dialogue, dance, song, clowning, moralising and prayer. Though the folk media attracts a small audience, the impact on them is at a much deeper level inviting the audience participation. As the moral instruction campaigned is with entertainment. Being dramatic and lyrical, it satisfies our innate need for self expression. The tradition and culture of ancestors are preserved and disseminated by the folk media in a lively manner. From a century wide perspective the folk and traditional media are still the only mass media in the sense that they have their routes in the tradition and experience of a large majority of the population and also that they have a reach much more extensive than any of the modern technological media.
Advantages of the Folk Media Over the Electronic Media
The folk media have certain clear-cut advantages over electronic media. The Familiarity, Personal contact, Common Language, Intelligibility, Credibility and Acceptance make the folk media universally acceptable among rural folks.
In the electronic media like radio and television messages come out of an impersonal electronic box but in the folk media there is contact between the sender of the message and the receiver. As the contact is direct and personal, the messages in folk media are far more credible and acceptable than if it were transmitted through the electronic media.
In folk arts, audience participation is very important. In adult education, the emphasis is given on an individual's transformation through his own active participation in the development process. The folk media is more flexible, repeatable and reachable than the electronic media. Repeating one particular message through the folk media is far easier and far less expensive than doing so through the electronic media. The reach in terms of numbers is greater through the electronic media but effective reach is far greater through the folk media. The advantages of the folk media over the electronic media are several. Some of the more important components are:
| Folk media | Electronic media | |
| Investment (Finance) | Negligible | Very high |
| Power | Not Essential | Essential |
| Receiver sets | Not required | Essential |
| Maintenance | None | Essential |
| Technical problems | None | Often |
| Interpreter | Not Essential | Preferable |
| Familiarity | Familiar | Familiar |
| Personal contact | Always | None |
| Language problems | None | Possible |
| Credibility factor | Very high | Lower |
| Audience participation | Very high | Seldom |
| Flexibility | Very high | Very high |
| Adult education | More effective | Less so |
| Repeatability | Easy | Difficult |
| Reactions | Can be gauged on the spot | Cannot be |
| Reach | Very wide | Restricted |
| Attentiveness | On the theme | Can be clouded by novelty |
| Intelligibility | Very high | Not comparable |
| Understanding | Universal | Isolated |
| Acceptance | Universal | Universal |
| Overall effectiveness | Very high | Not comparable |
| Programme designing | Easier | More difficult |
Compared to the amount spent on the electronic media, the cost of developing the folk media into an effective mass communication tool will be negligible but the return is greater and quicker. In folk media, the components such as power, transmitters, receivers, maintenance and technical problems are not arising and this is a major cost saving factor. The sudden realization that the folk media is the most effective form of communication in developing nations has also dawned upon the governments of other states.
Folk Arts in Modern Context
The influence of art, music, dance and drama, if rightly presented and practiced, can be of immense help in developing creative genius. The use of art forms of the cultural development of the masses and training of emotions has lately been experimented upon but they are lacking in imagination, planning, and foresight. The drawbacks in the present use of the traditional folk media for emotional education of the masses are:
1. The cultural groups used for such purposes lack the spirit of social service and social welfare.
2. The folk items presented for the healthy entertainment of the people lack in authenticity and depth.
3. The new themes given to these traditional forms such as dance, drama, and song do not suit the purpose for which they are meant and the technique in which they are used. They are either very unsuitable or too direct for assimilation and moral impact.
4. The traditional forms used for mass communication are not properly assessed for their suitability. Proper documentation work is not conducted before their use.
5. Various art groups working in the field of publicity under some governmental projects too are of low calibre. The contents of their performances aim at publishing the governmental achievements and not at developing the personality of men.
The use of a traditional folk medium for communication according to modern need is a very delicate affair and only expert choreographers, educationalists and artists can undertake this work. The Public Relations man can make clever use of traditional folk media for his campaigns, particularly in the rural areas.
CONCLUSION:-
Being ancient forms of art, the folk media is very close to the heart of the people. Its appeal is universal and its understanding is direct and at personal level. So the folk media can effectively be used as mass communication among rural and urban dwellers.
The folk media have played a very important role in solving several emotional problems and channelising the destructive forces into constructive ones. In
The communication needs in India are much greater than the resources we have today to meet them. Apart from these live programs in face-to-face communication, the folk forms have also been used in programs over electronic media.
One of the main problems and objectives is to consolidate the relationship between the two forms of communication without disrupting either the traditional roots or the necessary trend towards modernity. Outside its usual context, folk media of communication have also been largely used during recent events occurring in the political and social life of many developing countries. In the industrialized countries, vestiges of folk communication survive in varying degrees.
Folk media are most effective in changing the unscientific attitudes, superstitions, etc. inherited as a part of tradition by the people in rural areas. In the course of folk performance, they transmit information and project ideas that may influence attitudes and behaviour as well as entertainment. Thus it is a great revelation nowadays that the folk arts are quite sufficient, as a medium to inform and disseminate people to safeguard against superstition and other such beliefs.
The mass media face certain disadvantages in the use of folk forms. The live programs of folk media cannot out live their utility even with the full expansion of mass media. Their effective use may emerge as an extension arm of mass media. The various permutations and combinations of mass media and traditional media is a challenging task and with proper facilities for training and research at the Centre and State level, this branch of communication has immense possibilities of expansion.
Studies have proved that the hold of the folk media on the rural and semi-urban masses is still strong. Realizing the potentialities of folk media, some State Directorate of Public Relations and non-official organizations make imaginative use of the folk art, live entertainment movements has made several experiments by employing many of these forms for dissemination of ideas and innovations. Therefore, these folk forms should be kept up.
Each folk art itself is a medium of communication because it is directly linked with the psyche of its audience. It is flexible and it can be modified in regard to its functional relevance to the society to which it belongs. That is perhaps why it survived.
Folk media are harmless and are developed creatively, comparing to mainstream media. Despite each region’s unique cultural patterns which audiences may not understand even when presented in local dialect, but, they can still absorb and be impressed by the beauty of local art. Folk media as tools to campaign environmental problems in the community. Stories were told through media to create awareness of nature conservation in the community. Folk media are instruments to convey stories, ideas, emphasizing youth participation, mainly for transmitting knowledge from generation to generation.
Folk media are being replaced by mainstream media. If Ganjam people, remain apathetic or indifferent, and do not help preserve folk media; the term ‘Folk Media’ may disappear and may become unknown to future generation.
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Rajeev Lochan Rathan
Berhampur University
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