On 15th January 2024, Social Work Collectives: Young Scholars Forum organised a webinar titled ‘Bridging Realms: Uniting Storytelling and Social Research for Impactful Narratives.’ The webinar featured Author Sri Uha S as speaker for the event and the session was chaired by Prof. Sanghmitra Acharya, Professor, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
To begin with, Dr. Hemraj P. Jangir, founder of Social Work Collectives: Young Scholars Forum, welcomed all the participants, chair, and speaker, and introduced the forum. According to Dr. Jangir, the primary aim of Social Work Collectives: Young Scholars Forum is to organize impactful events that delve into the latest trends, challenges, and advancements in the field of social science.
Through thought-provoking discussions, the forum aims to foster a collaborative environment that stimulates innovative thinking and facilitates the exchange of ideas. While introducing the chair, he stated that Prof. Acharya is a social sciences professor at JNU. As an academician and researcher, she has written several books and ample number of articles in the field of health and marginalised group in the larger domain of social science.
While introducing the speaker, he stated that as an author, Uha primarily focuses on identifying inspiring stories on women, historical fiction, rural areas (indigenous communities), and individuals who beat all odds and excel to give back to the society. Her stories and articles have been featured in Humans of Hyderabad, Godavari magazine, Saranga magazine, Sakshi News, Andhra Jyothi News, Praja Sakthi News, Nava Telangana News, and Sanatana Tatva.
Her first book ‘Isuka Addam’ has been published in Dec 2022 and has been one of the best sellers in Telugu literature, winning her many accolades and appreciations. She is currently working on her second book, a collection of stories and experiences from her solo backpack travel.
After the introduction he handed over the session to chair. The chair, Prof. Acharya, first gave an overview of the writings of Sri Uha. She talked about the first book of Uha, Isuka Addam, and said that it is a wonderful read to understand the realms of the stories around us. Her short stories provide an overview of the lives of many marginalised individuals from diverse backgrounds.
To begin with, the featured speaker of the webinar, Uha, gave a brief of her journey in the corporate world, incidents that moved her to volunteer during Covid times and finally transitioning from corporate to development sector. She narrated few of the stories from experiences which she encountered during the time of covid-19, where she witnessed many lives on the crossroads.
These personal stories inspired her and motivated her to pen them down. She said that before writing about anything, she observes the event every closely and researches about the issue. She also shared many incidents where her writings, especially short stories featured in newspapers and also reached to the policy makers of Telangana government. She is actively writing in the diverse field such as stories about poverty, marginalisation, gender and caste based hierarchy, identity crisis and other socio-cultural issues.
During the discussion in the webinar, Mr. Navin Narayan from ActionAid Jaipur, admired the work Uha is doing and said that her work really inspired him and he also got some ideas to work on the field. Mr. Lakhan Singh from NIDPR Hyderabad said that Uha rightly pointed out many queries which emerging scholars’ faces during the writing stage.
In closing, Dr. Tabrez extended a formal vote of thanks on behalf of the Social Work Collectives: Young Scholars Forum, expressing gratitude for the insightful discussion that illuminated the intersection of storytelling and social research. The webinar successfully contributed to the forum’s mission of fostering impactful dialogue on critical social issues.
