SCEB Filmmaking Project Personal Memo – Ashish Amitabh Bharatwal (Section-A 17067)

For the SCEB filmmaking project, my group decided to take the interviews of workers in varied
fields. This included both the informal and formal sectors. Due to my ease of access to the
workforce in the medical field – nurses and operation theatre technicians – I was able to capture
the rationale of their joining the said field of employment, and the causality between their social
backgrounds and their job.
The interaction was supposed to be not exactly like an interview but more like a conversation. For
this, I approached them explaining the importance of the interaction, and how they could very well
help professors, students, and academics in general, in understanding the various factors that go
into people choosing a livelihood. A chance to be a part of a movie project excited most of the
subjects. Next came the familiarization of the subjects with the questionnaire beforehand so that
they do not encounter any surprises on film. But care was taken that not too much information be
revealed and the spontaneity be maintained.
Special attention was given to being sensitive about their backgrounds and not asking anything too
personal that may or may not harm them emotionally.
The questions were mostly based on the following aspects:
1. Full names of the subject and their immediate family
2. The kind of work they do
3. Their family background and the occupations of their father (in-law) and older generations
4. Their expectations from their career keeping in mind their (humble) background
5. Specific instances (family pressure/poverty/disease/death/accident) that motivated their
working in a particular kind of role
6. Future plans with respect to their career choice and
7. Whether they would want their siblings to follow their path
Wonderful insights were gathered from all the five of my interactions. I will briefly touch upon
some unique responses worth looking into.
• Mr. Shivam Yadav’s motivation to work as an OT technician was because of his father’s
wish that his son go into the “medical line”, after having met an accident before Shivam’s
birth
• Mr. Naseem Pasha wanted a life where work was only moderate in intensity. He still loves
to play Cricket and worships Kohli and Rohit Sharma
• Mrs. Pushpa Saini looked at the plight of her family after her husband stopped working
owing to his ill-health as an alcoholic
• Mrs. Shyama Saini wishes to educate her sons and daughters, and it is for their education
that she is working hard as a nurse and a helper
• Mr. Noor-e-Azam wants to pursue BUMS in order to cement his career as a medical
assistant
It was indeed very insightful knowing these people up-close, and understanding how big a gap
exists between the luxury of choices I enjoyed and the hard-pressed situations these individuals
had to deal with. Their perseverance and the instinct to survive amidst a very difficult employment
scenario is highly commendable. It would not be a long shot to say that they are where they are
not because of, but despite their backgrounds.