Instagram is where the steam blows. Over the years, it has turned into a platform where a lot of diverse variety of forums have expressed themselves and gained momentum. Famous artistic brands like The Artlet Poetry and The On Being Project started engaging with their audience through Instagram, which was one of the reasons for their popularity and success among the youth.
This global phenomenon has wiped its effect on the South Asian folks very well and hence there are a variety of upcoming Instagram pages that are actively trying to represent and show a side of our heritage that was usually hiding behind closed doors of our individual households.
These pages have helped bring a change in the perspective of the youth and have made them believe that just like the lives of the ones before them, their choices will shape the country’s collective future.
A few of these Instagram pages are –
1. Brown History
Handled single-handedly by Ahsun Zafar, an electric engineer from Montreal began this journey to document the struggles of South Asians living in their native countries as well as the ones living afar.
The page tries to encompass and provide all kinds of South Asian stories from the notable Teja Singh on whose influence the Canadian government withdrew its plan of sending all the south Asians away, to the life of a Bangladeshi poetess, Farida Majid, to pictures along with stories about parents and grandparents narrated by their very own offsprings.
The page has recently also started with their own series of podcasts that theorize the systematic oppression, inequality, and other perils that Indian societies had to go through and their impact on our collective psyche.
This page is extremely educational and has struck the right chord of nostalgia.
2. Museum of Material Memory
http://www.museumofmaterialmemory.com/
Museum of Material Memory prides upon itself as a digital repository that weaves stories that have been lying dormant under the materials we loved.
Particularly restricted to the Indian Subcontinent, the repository makes attempts at reviving lost ties by studying the social ethnography of collectibles, heirlooms, and other antiquities.
The brainchild of Aanchal Malhotra, the author of Remnants of a Separation/Partition, this page has made me realize that stories continue to exist even after their creator ceases to.
3. Daakvaak
With the slogan-“Postcards from the attic”, Daakvaak gives the chance to revel in the stories that were never amalgamated into the mainstream but existed all this time.
The page unveils hidden incidents and literature of the past that help us gain the real picture of the bygone age.
The page also commemorates the lost ritual of letter writing that gave people the chance to articulate their views and thoughts. The weekly blogs are a treat for which I endearingly wait for on Sunday Mornings.
4. Indialostandfound
https://www.indialostandfound.com/
Amit Parischa,a renowned Indian photographer through his tours and research realized that a change needs to be brought in the way people look at their local monuments.
With this noble goal in mind, Indialostandfound was created to highlight and enlighten the youth about the cultural and historical importance of the monument’s around them, and through the daunting task of preparing a heritage Map of India, Amit is trying to incorporate as many as possible young volunteers who can get firsthand experience of knowing their culture, their country and themselves.
5. Words in Urdu
This page acquaints the Urdu speaking as well the non-Urdu speaking audience to this magnificent language. The nazms, ghazals, or poems in the captions are a highly discussed not only among peers but also by strangers in the comment section.
The page looks therapeutic and its aesthetics makes it something that anyone would like to look at after a tiring day. Their daily word posts boost the day and are a must-visit if you are a language enthusiast.
These are only a few of the many Instagram pages that are trying to showcase the different, usually unrecorded, or ignored side of the story.
