R. Krishna had heard her grandmother sing a folk song that may not have been recorded anywhere. This Class VII student of TRK Aided Upper Primary School at Vengad in Malappuram has now shot it on a mobile phone to keep this nugget for posterity.
She is part of the project ‘The LoreKeepers’, an initiative by the not-for-profit non-governmental organisation Archival and Research Project (ARPO), that helps schoolchildren record oral history, folklore and so on to create an archive of Kerala’s cultural past.
Sruthin Lal, co-founder, ARPO, who is from Kozhikode, says that the plan is to ignite curiosity and instil a sense of pride and ownership in children. “They are not usually exposed to traditional stories and songs that were once loved and repeated by their grandparents and parents. These stories and songs belong to them too. We want to help them realise that they too can play a part in preserving and safeguarding these traditions.”
