Hunting for stories in India

Vatsala Shrivastava is what one would expect her to be – lively, enthusiastic and ready to talk. For her venture, Bindi Bottoms, she has travelled extensively, interacting with women of various backgrounds and gathering stories of their lives and struggles.

Intrigued by the name of the venture, I wished to set up an interaction with Vatsala. Undeterred by a fever, she agreed and made time. “It’s amusing to be in the ‘hot seat’, for a change,” she started with a chuckle.

Passion for storytelling

It only makes sense that Vatsala comes from a family of professional storytellers from Bihar. She is passionate about the art from and calls herself a story hunter. And through Bindi Bottoms, the online platform, she shares what she finds.

“Change is often brought about by simple actions of ordinary people. On this platform, we deal with the women of India, some recognised, some celebrated, but all of them protagonists in their own right,” she says.

Unable to resist any longer, I ask her about the name. “Bindi Bottoms means ‘head to toe’. We found it to be a cool name to represent a collective of stories of real women from different walks of life put together after realtime research in a country as diverse as India,” Vatsala explains.

She goes on, “We believe that women play a pivotal role in the society – be it actively or passively. Even the transitions – from passive to active or vice versa – leave a mark as their decisions shape the society at large. Through Bindi Bottoms, we encourage them to voice their opinions. Our aim is to capture the cultural diversity of the country and the resilience of its women.”

Finding her calling

For eight-and-a-half years, Vatsala held an editorial position at a leading daily in Delhi, while covering art and theatre extensively. A typical day saw her making last-minute decisions to accommodate hard-hitting news in the international pages before the news went to print.

So, what made her give up a thriving career in journalism and steer towards storytelling? “One evening, eager to finish up work and join my husband for a dinner date, I was waiting in the newsroom for the death toll of a bombing incident to rise to a particular figure. Aghast at my own thought, I jolted myself out of it and realised that these were not the stories that I wanted to tell my future child. I wanted different stories. That was when I decided that I needed a break”.

Soon afterwards, Vatsala suffered a miscarriage and spent time recovering from it. Eventually, she moved to the USA to join her husband who was pursuing his higher studies there. At the University of California, Berkeley, she gave vent to her passion for art, theatre and storytelling. Working with Prof Tapan S Parikh and backed by the I-school, she co-founded Represent, a global storytelling platform.

“I packed my bags and returned to Bihar, my home state, and began gathering stories. I was pregnant again, yet I travelled across the state extensively, armed with my recorder, and began collecting stories of people, cultures and legends,” she recalls. Her proficiency in five languages helped her in the process.

“I was surprised to receive an overwhelming response from women across different strata of the society. With technology and literacy, the language barrier is diminishing and paving the way to expression,” she shares.

Times are changing

It was during this time that she came across Future Ideas, and Bindi Bottoms was lying dormant with them. “I instantly took it up to re-launch it with my proposal of a storytelling platform. They liked and backed my format; with different story themes, Bindi Bottoms was born in a new avatar”, she says.

The venture is just over eight months old but is garnering a lot of interest. “It is a neutral platform”, Vatsala adds, “We are making sure that it is not a voice against a particular gender. Many men write to me. Even an eight-year-old has told us her story.”

Asked in which area she has noticed a big change in the country, she says, “Beauty and taboos. Women are now more accepting of themselves, their looks, complexion, choice of clothing, etc, and are less judgemental. They are also overcoming rigidities and taboos at a faster rate.”

However, she is pained to notice that the rural areas are fast giving up traditions, considering them regressive under the belief of modernity. “But the urban population is realising their value and is bent upon reviving them.”

Future plans on the anvil are to launch Bindi Bottoms in regional languages, bringing stories from all across India.

Is careful planning the key to her work-life balance? “I believe in serendipity and go with the flow,” she smiles.