1. Traditional and folk arts in India have long been used for moral, religious, political, and educational purposes by communicating messages to rural masses. 2. In modern times, Gandhi effectively used oral communication and folk arts like songs, dramas, and puppet shows to spread messages about the independence movement in rural areas. 3. The Indian government recognizes the importance of traditional and alternative media, and organizations like the Song and Drama Division use folk performances, exhibitions, and other methods to communicate information about development programs and social issues to rural populations.

1. Traditional and Alternate Media for Development
The folk and traditional arts have been used for moral, religious and socio-
political purposes. India has a long tradition of mass communication, especially
oral communication and folk arts. The folk art, typical of the tribal and rural life
all over the world, is the spontaneous expression of the people shaped by them,
to suit their own needs. More than 2500 years back in India, the religious leaders
likes Buddha and Mahavir made use of the language of the people in order to
preach their religion to the masses. Thereafter the art of telling stories of god
(Harikatha) development so that the rural masses could be educated with respect
to the subtle concepts ofreligion and social values. This is the reason why we
have a unique phenomenon in India that the illiterate peasants are familiar with
the fundamental tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism Jainism etc. In the following
centuries throughout the country, there were such attempts through the 'Bhakti'
movement by great leaders and philosophers. The great temples of India built
through the ages were not only the places of worship but are also full of
sculpture, which enlightened the masses about the episodes in the epics. The
temples were also centres of learning where great scholars held their discourses
in the afternoons and evenings.
In the present century, Mahatma Gandhi possibly the greatest mass
communicator of all times aroused millions of illiterate people to participate
in the freedom struggle against the mighty empire through oral
communication. He inspired to use other traditional media of entertainment
such as songs, dramas, puppets and other folk arts for spreading the massages
especially in the rural areas.
Though there is a tendency of viewing the folk media as outmoded,
unchanging and extremely rigid form of mass media, it is far from the truth.
Although the basic form and the structure of the various folk art form have
changed very slightly over the centuries, the messages conveyed have always
moved with the times or rather have been contemporary.
As Used By The Indian Government
There has been a phenomenal growth in media of mass communication after
independence.
However, at the time of crisis and national event like elections, the traditional
ways and means of communication have proved their importance. The Indian
government being aware of the fact always tried to make use of small and
alternate media for the purposeof development. For publicising development
schemes under the five-year plans, so as to motivate the people to participate,

2. programme called the Integrated Publicity Programme was launched in 1953.
In the following years the sister organisation viz. Song and Drama Division
was started for organising entertainment programmes with the help of local
theatrical group or parties of local or folk artists. The other popular media in
other regions are also combined. They are printed words, exhibitions,
photographs, puppetshows and dance dramas. The selection of the media
depends on the message and the characteristics of the audience. The occasions
such as fairs and festivals are utilised to gather the people for the performances
and displays.
The Song and Drama Division of Indian Government functions at the three
levels, at its headquarter in New Delhi, at eight regional centres in various
parts of the country and there are
nine sub-centres at the district headquarters. The division has departmental
troupes, sound and light units and more than 400 registered parties, which are
made up of eminent performers in the folk arts. During 1991, it presented
thousands of programmes all over the country as it is mentioned in the Annual
report of 1991-92.
The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) is a multimedia
agency, which produces material for macro as well as micro media. The
specialised service is being offered in areas of exhibitions, designing and
printing booklets, folders, posters, hoarding banners and kiosks etc. The
important themes being covered are national integration, communal harmony,
health and family welfare, girl child and prevention of drug abuse etc. The
departments such as National Saving Organisation, Life Insurance Corporation,
Health and Family Welfare etc use the traditional and alternate media.
The Field studies at the village level in two different states Maharashtra and
Tamilnadu have concluded that the mosteffective method of communicating the
message of the 'small family norm' is through personalcontact, demonstration
and interaction. These are the three important aspects of folk media.
Drawbacks
Though the government made wide use of traditional and alternate media there
are several severe criticisms. The limitations are pertaining to the kind of
message and the management of it.
Too much emphasis on publicising their own achievements and
intention has lowered the credibility of the government media.
The structure of official media did not permit decentralisation in production of

3. material; as a result the urban and middle class bias seriously hampered the
development objectives.
The message is transmitted by the staff of the project (sender) to the people
(receiver) Sometimes, their opinions are taken but always at prescribed stages
and feedbackare taken without major consequences. This type of limited or nil
participation has proved incapable of bringing about social change. The process
itself needs to aim at making people and more responsible if the goal is that of
development. It needs to promote a dynamic of knowledge creation for all the
protagonists in question.
Though the government has promoted folk media to some extent the mass media
received much greater attention. They have been projected as if they are the only
effective media in this society. In
the process folk media have been systematically and subtly destroyed. The mass
media is so violent and forceful that it has impaired the senses of common
individuals to an extent they cannot receive any other mild form.
Media As Used By The Activists And Non-Government Organization
Government is not the only agency working for the development and social
change. The other even
more committed sectoris of activists and voluntary organisations. The rulers
and capitalists controlthe mass media. Mass media without know how, the
infrastructure and funds cannot be used effectively. The change agents though
committed but working with limited funds have no reach to the mass media.
They are left with the only option of using media, which is within their control.
The alternate and traditional media have provided the answer. There are certain
in built advantages. They are:
The know-how is simple and associated with the old Indian traditions hence
expertise is available even in remote areas. It is not a gift of the western world.
The finance involved is less and infrastructure is easily available in the less
developed areas.
The poorpeople in the remote areas have familiarity with the media hence the
messages get across easily.
They do not create the sense of powerlessness among the common people
which in turn hampers the growth and development
There are many traditional forms common through out the country and special
to a particular region. The other small media which are not traditional but
possessthe elements common to that of the folk art, and they are within the
controlof the common people. These media which can be described as micro-
media is divided into three categories

4. Speechand meetings and Discussions
The country has rich traditions hence talk and speech is the life of rural India.
This way of communication is totally in controlof the poorestperson. Indian
society is not individualistic like the western world. It is more community and
family oriented. As a result the art of interpersonal and group communication
has flourished. People like and enjoy talking. The techniques like use of body,
cultivation of voice and gestures are imbibed in the people through the cultural
exposition.
Meetings and Group Discussions
There is a tradition in the rural areas to have informal meetings where a lot of
the information is shared, feelings are ventilated, doubts are raised, decisions
are taken and problems are solved. Informal meeting have proved to be much
more productive than the formal ones.
Demonstrations and Exhibitions
The Department of Health and Family Planning extensively use these media.
Simple charts paintings and models can be conveniently carried into the rural
areas. They provide an easy way of informing the illiterate people about the
symptoms, the causes, curing process and the prevention.
Though very little property is required a lot of preparation and different talents
are being used. If the exhibition material is prepared with the local resources it
is very useful for creating awareness and dissemination of information.
Performing Arts
In the field of performing arts there are mainly
two categories: Traditional forms of art or folk
art.
Indian adaptation of art forms of other culture.
The following forms have been widely used for development communication:
Songs and Storytelling
Every work, act, festival and incident has a song for the expression of feelings.
These are sung in a group with each and every participating in it. The tunes are
familiar as and when required for better expression and conveying desirable
messages.The story telling is a form where various methods
are observed. The mythological political and social themes are interwoven
with the contemporary messages in an interesting way. Along with prosethe

5. poetry is also combined which makes the presentation more gripping. The
musical equipment though used is limited in number and locally made.
Dance, Drama and Dance-drama
There are different folk dances of different regions. There are festivals and
occasions when the whole community - rich and poor, small and big, men and
women come together and enjoy collectively. This provides an opportunity for
better understanding of each other; especially women find a platform where they
can express their feelings. (The known forms are Garaba of Gujarat, Bhangra of
Punjab, Lavni of Maharastra etc.)
Folk Theatre
In India there are communities traditionally occupied in the folk theatre. It is a
family profession for them. They move from one village to the other and
arrange their performance. The format of the theatre is well - known but the
messages of different kind are carried from place to place. They provide a link
between different communities in different regions and integrate the different
culture. The folk theatre has played major role in political and social changes.
Through the form, messages are carried out and values are perpetuated along
with the popular entertainment. Normally the form has a loose structure, which
allows lot of innovations and improvisation. The use of satire and humorous
presentation gets difficult messages across easily.
(The popular forms are Bhavai of Gujarat, Tamasha of Maharastra,
Nautanki and Ramlila of northern part, Jatra in Bengal, Yakshagan in
Karantaka and Therukoothu in Tamilnadu.) Puppetry:
This is a very exciting media. It attracts anybodyfrom a child to the aged. The
content, which normally offends people in power, if delivered by the actors can
be put in the mouth of the puppets. This is an indirect way of addressing the
issues in question. There are four popular styles of puppetry flourishing in
different regions.
String puppets or Sutradharika: This style is found in the states of
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh.

6. Rod puppets:These puppets are used in west Bengal. They are large in size
and fixed to bamboo sticks, which are tied to the puppeteer's waist.
Shadow puppets:The shadow puppets are flat figures made from tanned hide
and painted with vegetable dyes. They are illuminated from behind so that their
shadows fall on a transparent cotton screen. The stories projected are taken
from the epics Ramayan and Mahabharat. They are popular in Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala and Orissa.
Hand Puppets:Hand puppets or glove puppets are simple to prepare and
perform and hence they are very popular for educational use. This form has
flourished in Orissa, Kerala and Tamilnadu.
There are other modern variations in the original forms, which do not require
elaborate preparation and highly skilled performance. The voluntary
organisations make wide use of puppetplays on alcoholism, unionization,
environment and health education with manageable funds by using such
adaptations.

7. Street Theatres
Drama performed on the street or in the open grounds is termed as street theatre. It
is a form of
theatre, which goes to the people and is performance amongst them. It
required minimum equipment yet provide two way communication by wiping
out the line between the audience and the performers.Street theatre as it is
known today can be traced back to its direct lineage with the Russian
Revolution in 1917. In India it appeared in the 20th century, as the awareness
of the freedom struggle. In 1944, Bijon Bhattacharya, a founder of Indian
peoples Theatre Association
(IPTA) gave momentum and spread the stories of the exploitation of peasants
by the landowners.The street theatre is greatly influenced by Brecht's epic
theatre, peter Brook's Rough theatre and Badal Sircar Third theatre.
As it is written by a well-known activist, Safdar Hashmi, "The history points
out very clearly that the theatre development as agitation propaganda (Agit-
Prop)on the streets, at factory gates, markets, dockyards, Playgrounds,
Barnyard and so on. It is political in nature and became a
voluntary instrument of the democratic temper of the people. It is also an
interpreter of daily events and development. It has played a role in the
process ofnational awakening in the countries like Spain, Vietnam, Japan,
France, Cuba, USA and UK.
As it is discussed earlier folk dramas enacted in public squares as the street
play. Folk media are intimate with masses, readily available at low cost.
Also relished by different age groups and provides instant feedback and so
do the street plays. Hence though influenced by the western theatre it is
accepted by common people in India readily.Women's groups in cities and
rural areas have used street theatre to raise social consciousness onthe
issues like dowry deaths, exploitative advertisement, legal rights etc. In
Kerala State the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) has employed
street theatre to popularise science and literacy.
Jatthas (A Group March)
When the goal is to mobilize people in large number of villages it is more
effective to combine different media. This is done by organisation of Jatthas
by walk. A group of people with relevant media moves from one place to the
other, mobilizing people on the issue and building awareness. It is

8. community effort where different groups join together and conducts Jatthas.
This needs
planning, public relation and publicity. But when entire community is
involved organizing does not become difficult. The very fact of the
involvement of the community ensures the success ofthe programme. The
combination of powerful and attractive micro media assures the impact.
In 1990 Bharat Vignyan Jattha - a national movement was supported bythe
Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment in which more than 500 villages
were covered in the country. The objective of the march was to popularise
science for cultivating scientific temper among the common mass
of the country. The success ofit initiated Jatthas on other issues in following the
years.
The changing face of traditional media business
The technology is changing fast. Take this. We can run our TV through the
mobile phone in year 2003. Don't believe it? Check out the latest Internet
enabled products launched by LG in the Indian market. That leads us to
an interesting question where are we headed towards in the future and
how it affects a traditional media company? The eTechnology Group of
the premier market research company IMRB International has done a
research on this subject and has come out with some interesting findings
in its report released this year.
The study indicates that the control would shift more and more to customers. For
example, today we use the remote to block ad breaks by shuffling channels.
Tomorrow, we would use technology to block ads
if we do not want them. This is not to say ads would not work, as people would
still like to be passive in receiving info at some point of time. Secondly, the
communication channels will be more complex and fragmented and consumers
will be more difficult to reach with a single message. The mobile phone will be
combined with the web access. One can have microwave with recipe download
etc. So marketers can reach messages through alternate channels. We have

9. already seen increasing use of SMS now in this
context. Thirdly, the businesses will move towards targeted and interactive
communications strategies. A few examples of these could be a call center by
Asian Paints or the cross selling efforts of banks. The finding indicates towards
number of changes taking place in the urban India. In 2-3 years horizon
which is going to be a technology comforting era, there will be experimentation
of benefits/delivery for bothusers & providers. There would be a marked
increase in Internet access at home and more specifically through affordable
methods in public places like schools, cybercafes etc. The mobile
communication devices will be more mass with some part of web invading it
(2.5G+ will start growing in 2-3 years). The supporttechnologies like Bluetooth
will happen in 3-4 years. The traditional PC will start morphing with several
supportdevices (PDAs etc.) which will start blurring the line with mobile
communication devices. The cable industry is also expected to grow
dramatically aided by CAS but the latest in technology will start invading this
cottage industry. Thus, TV channels will be significantly impacted.
If we look at 5-10 years period, which is going to be an interactive media era,
the true fragmentation of media would begin to happen. With better penetration
of the Net, further fragmentation of communication will happen with specific
appliances taking on the special tasks. The audio devices could connectto your
favourite channel and play songs of your selected singers. More interactive
components will be added to TVs, refrigerator, microwave, and washing
machines…. Even the traditional media like radio would grow more interactive.
The interactive TVs, video on demand,
education at home, telecommuting and other bandwidth hungry demands will
begin to grow near the end of year 8-10.
We are also going to get a broad delineation of the new customer. But this will be
a slow evolution which is already undergoing. There will be a growing
information sophistication. One just needs to see the way young executives in
office are handling multiple info channels to believe this. All this has been
possible through higher education, mastery of process ofgathering, analyzing,
integration and dissemination. We are also going to see higher income levels. The
new class of customers would have better disposable income, less guilt to spend
and willing to bet more on their future capability to meet spends. They will be
adept at using the new technology. They would also have greater control(read:
privacy) and say on what they want. From the customer point of view, the new
technologies are aimed at
giving control and great say in what they want. So customers would have more
choices, ease of access to choices and ease of assessing the right choices to make.
Hence, communication channels have to be adapted to this reality.
All these trends signify the change of equations for the traditional media
companies in the days to come. The IMRB study recommends that the traditional

10. media companies need to be present in multiple channels to capitalize on
changes. For example, India Today Group which has successfully gone beyond
the print media to create a niche for itself in the TV channel business besides
making its presence felt on the Internet platform. So they got to be more engaged
with their audience and progress to interaction as we move on. The media spends
(print will lose revenues the most!) will have to get further fragmented across
media options and hence revenues have to be collected wherever they happen.
The growing
media spends will be in interactive media (Internet, email, interactive TV/Radio
when they happen, live events) & targeted media (direct mail, email, mobile
devices etc.).
Review Questions:
 Explain the difference between traditional and modern mediums of mass
communication.
 What are the different traditional or alternate media?
 What are the latest trends in traditional media?
References-
1. De Fleur, Melvin and Dennis, Everette; Understanding Mass Communication;
(1988); 3rd edition; Houghton Mifflin Co.
2. Narula, Uma; Mass Communication theory and practice; (1994); Haranand
3. Andal; Communication theories and model