*Image Credit: Work of Arushi & Manaal - Narratives of Migration, Represented through Kaavad Storytelling Form. 

In our classroom discussions and reflections on students' insights, we consistently linked the notion of "body" to the sense of home. With this in mind, we embarked on an exploration of the kaavad storytelling tradition in subsequent weeks, prompting students to shape narratives around the body as a socio-political and cultural entity within this traditional storytelling framework. Our goal was to investigate how the concept of the body transcends anthropological perspectives, embracing sociological lenses and the inherent structure of the kaavad. Starting with deciphering measurements and understanding scale and proportions, students collaborated in pairs to refine their stories. Ultimately, they crafted kaavads to present narratives about people, identity, and spaces. This process facilitated their exploration of storytelling techniques, narrative construction, visual communication, sculpting practices, and deeper contextual engagement through the act of creation. (Simultaneously, presentations on Static Visual Narratives and an Introduction to Kaavad took place)

As a separate activity alongside this project, we engaged in a stimulating discussion about body representation, examining various patterns across different timelines. Key themes included the representation of male and female nudity (explored separately in both Indian and Western contexts), the portrayal of gender minorities in Indian cinema from the 1960s to contemporary times, the representation of figures like Ram and Shurpanaka from the 10th century to the 21st century, and depictions of angels and cows from the 5th century to the present day. Using accordions as visual aids, students demonstrated their understanding and attempted to draw parallels between these representations. This discussion proved to be insightful, allowing us to critically examine the socio-cultural and political dimensions of visual representations, as well as the moral and ethical values associated with different interpretations of the body.