Report: Pavani Chandhok
“A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones,” said Nelson Mandela. The Gandhian principle of “hate the sin, not the sinner” also resonates with the same feeling.
One can see the reflection of these words in India’s pioneering work on prison reforms through jail podcasts. Taking forward the reformation process in Indian jails, Dr. Vartika Nanda, founder of Tinka Tinka, had launched India’s first podcast Tinka Tinka Jail Radio, which is solely dedicated to the cause of prison reforms. While bringing in prison radio in District Jail Agra, Haryana, and now in the state of Uttarakhand, India’s leading prison reformer Dr. Vartika Nanda also launched her prison podcasts in 2020.
With nearly 30 podcasts already added to the Tinka Tinka Prison Reforms YouTube channel, each podcast has successfully documented and voiced prison life through art and creative expressions. These podcasts were specially presented at the opening ceremony of the 7th National Conference of Heads of Prisons, organized by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), MHA, conducted on 7 – 8 October 2021 in New Delhi.
The pandemic has been a trying time for all, especially for those behind bars. No in-person visits and lack of classes and group activities add to their miseries and loneliness. The podcasts feature not only their struggles, heartaches, and concerns but also their triumphs and dreams. The episodes can be sensitive and personal. However, inmates experience meaning and connectedness in their work, and it will ultimately help them resocialize and rehabilitate to the real world.
Tinka Tinka Jail Radio podcasts open up a new world in prisons and enable inmates to express their thoughts in an open space. With Tinka jail radios operational in 8 jails, these voices are expected to expand across Indian jails. As Vartika Nanda says, “With no financial support whatsoever, we are creating rainbows in prisons through Tinka radio and Tinka podcasts. These are coming forth as testimonials of prison life, which no one has ever thought of before. We are trying to fulfill the communication needs of inmates, too, through these podcasts.”
Dr. Vartika Nanda is India’s leading prison reformer and media educator. She was honored with Stree Shakti Puraskar by the President of India in 2014. Written and published as part of the projects by Dr. Vartika Nanda are three books – Tinka Tinka Tihar, Tinka Tinka Dasna, and Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh. The three books on prisons are authentic versions of prison life which aids in leading the inmates to a better future. She has recently finished her research on the “Study of the condition of women inmates and their children in Indian Prisons and their communication needs with special reference to Uttar Pradesh”. Currently, she heads the Department of Journalism at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.
Excerpt Of Tinka Podcast
