About Yugantar

Exploring caste, labour, and dignity through the lives behind the broom.

Timeline: 2010 – 2012 | Location: Rural Rajasthan & Jodhpur

Context:

The broom occupies a complex place within Indian society, as both a source of livelihood and a symbol deeply tied to caste-based discrimination and untouchability. Communities involved in broom-making and sanitation work continue to face social exclusion, stigma, and invisibilisation despite carrying generations of traditional knowledge and labour.

Project Approach:

Jharu Katha was developed as a documentary and research-based storytelling project that examined the social, cultural, and political meanings attached to the broom. Through fieldwork, interviews, and visual narratives, the project explored how caste, labour, survival, and dignity intersect within the everyday lives of broom-making communities.

Documenting Voices and Histories:

• Conducted extensive fieldwork across rural Rajasthan and Jodhpur
• Engaged with broom-makers, workers, and families across communities
• Explored the relationship between caste, labour, and social stigma
• Examined questions of waste, urbanisation, and traditional livelihoods
• Used film as a medium to foreground lived experiences and counter dominant narratives

Key Learnings:

• Traditional labour practices remain deeply shaped by caste hierarchies
• Communities associated with sanitation and broom-making continue to face systemic exclusion
• Storytelling and visual documentation can challenge invisibility and social stigma
• Conversations around labour must also address dignity, identity, and structural inequality

Why This Matters: Jharu Katha creates space for voices and experiences often excluded from mainstream narratives. By documenting the realities of caste-linked labour, the project questions social hierarchies while foregrounding resilience, survival, and the politics of dignity.