Program(s):
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1) Part of me expected to change my thesis topic from the very beginning. And so, now that we’ve had a few weeks on the ground in India, I’ve found a topic that I’m prepared to follow in a new direction.
What initially caught my eye about India, as I admit rather ordinarily, was a skateboarding video. Oxelo Skateboards sponsored a few of its professional riders to take a trip through India. The riders introduced the sport to towns that had seen nothing like it before, inspiring creativity and new visions of athleticism, and drawing with them an instantaneous community of admirers. Featuring stunning cinematography, and an original (also sponsored) soundtrack from a creative agency in London, the video was truly an imaginative feat. It captured the essence of an experience that was compelling enough to get me to be in India, today.
But more so than just being a moving piece of videography, this piece stood for something more: it prioritized acts of generosity, skill-building workshops, teaching programs, and community engagement in each community along the duration of their journey. Skateboarding happened to be their craft, and through it, they found a way to engage with a foreign country. The activity transgressed language and culture barriers, and brought about true sentiment in everyone it touched (myself included).
Reflecting on the reasons I came to India in the first place, and what would be the focus of my time spent here- I challenged myself to merge the two paths. With this, I move forward with a thesis focused on the sociological impacts that skateboarding has on specific communities across the country of India. How does the introduction of skateboarding serve as a means of community empowerment and skill-building? How has it influenced the social fabric of these communities and their concepts of ‘togetherness’? How does its presence turn a ‘space’ into a ‘place’? What patterns emerge?
I’d like to continue my involvement with this topic through a work-stay program with one of the skateparks based out of Pranna, Uttar Pradesh during post-program travel. The program emphasizes community empowerment, involving the town with leadership roles associated with the skatepark at its core, teaching English and communication skills to children who visit the park, fostering interpersonal support networks, and strengthening practices of sustainability. I see myself continuing in the field of social work with my degree in International Affairs, and involving myself with organizations such as this will be a significant step in the right direction.
2) I have looked into seven skateparks around the country, and have narrowed in on four that line up with the course of our program travels. While in Delhi, I will be interviewing, photographing, and working with a park by the name of Free Motion Skate. Near Varanasi, I will be working with a pair of organizations called Janwar Castle and We-the-School (they are intertwined programs). In Chennai, I will be working with a park called Holy Stoked!, one of the largest parks in the country with the most amount of media attention. And lastly, I will visit a DIY park in Goa during our second round of independent travel.
3) So far, I have two interviews, each with managers of separate skateparks. In addition, I intend on collecting interviews from a sample group of park visitors, of various age groups, to capture the heart of what is propelling this ‘community-building’ phenomenon forward. I have the opportunity to speak with a man by the name of Mehmood Khan, who served as the Global Leader of Innovation at Unilever London (an organization that invests in and empowers rural economies across the globe), whose expertise on the topic will be unparallelled. I’d like to community leaders as well as academics who can speak to the nature of ‘placemaking.’
Along the way, I would like to produce my own photographs to supplement my field research. This will take the form of a series of portraiture. I will also gather readings on the values of community in both cosmopolitan and rural regions of the country.
Delhi:
Sept 8: visited Free Motion Skatepark in Saket. Conducted initial interview with manager and took photos.
Sept 12: returned to the Free Motion Skatepark for second round of interviewing with the manager. Took more photos/video. Talked with other participants. Emailed Steve, the owner of the park who lives in Los Angeles. Transcribed all interviews.
Sept 20: Woke up at 5:30am to meet with the "Sunday Morning Kids," for a skateboarding field trip around the city. We met at Jangpura Metro Station and took the public bus system to each location thereafter. "Sunday Morning Kids" is code for children from the slums.
Sept 25: Skype interview with Ulrike Reinhart at We-the-School Skatepark. Unfortunately, she needed to reschedule.
Chennai:
October 26: Met with the owner and India's top surfboarder at Temple Surf School in Mahabalipuram. This led to a handful of new connections with other surf/skate partnerships in South India. Currently arranging phone interviews with them.
October 28: Printed six 12x18 photographs I took of Delhi skateboarders and had them delivered to Free Motion Skate in Delhi. Hopefully they'll enjoy them and hang them on the wall. 🙂