A brand new collaboration: Not sitting still

I returned from Lisbon in December 2017 after completing my MSc in International Studies with the honours of best Masters Dissertation. My dissertation was titled "Ambiguous Citizenship: The Siddis of Uttara Kannada".

Upon returning, I took some time out to consider my options in Goa. I soon took up a teaching job at Instituto Camões-Centro de Língua Portuguesa, Goa, which was my first experience of teaching Portuguese to a group. Almost immediately I began giving Portuguese language tuitions (from home) to school students. These two activities kept me busy as well as afforded me ample free time to pursue my hobbies, during my process of resettling in Goa.

In March, 2018, I came across a Bangalore based NGO, Bridges of Sports (BoS). I learned from their webpage and blog that the objective of the NGO was to train backward communities in India (like adivasis, Gawlis, Siddis etc) in sports as a form of empowering these communities. I immediately liked the idea of this project as it was similar to the SAI Special Area Games project which aimed at training Siddis (African-Indians) in athletics, to eventually produce athletes that would represent India at International meets. Unfortunately, the SAI project was short-lived. The BoS project seemed like a fresh attempt, not just with the Siddis but with other backward communities in India. I thought to myself, I've just completed a dissertation on the Siddis of Uttara Kannada, where I conducted a successful field research. Incidentally, this had been the first field research that I conducted and I had gained sufficient confidence from this initial forage into field research. So why not go back into the field and develop on my initial study? Also, this was one way to keep working with the Siddis.

I subsequently wrote to the NGO, introducing myself and offering my services of collaboration, should they require it. Their response was prompt and they were very enthusiastic in securing my collaboration. I soon had a meeting with Mr Nitish Chiniwar, the founder of BoS, a strongly driven individual, who upon first meeting proved to be very resourceful. Soon, more calls with Nitish and Sourav Mukherji, Dean of IIM Bangalore, that was supporting the project, had me convinced that I could contribute in some way. We decided to get this project underway.

On the 9th of June, I boarded I bus from Panaji and headed to Haliyal,, back to Siddi territory.