New Delhi: Sanskar Bharati, an art and culture organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is aiming to connect with the youth of India via reels and memes.
The organisation is holding an ‘All India Reels and Memes’ competition based on the broader theme of Samajik Samrasta (social harmony), in which participants have to make and send minute-long reels as well as memes to Sanskar Bharati on its email address by 25 December, according to a poster of the contest accessed by ThePrint.
Selected memes and reels will be shown at the national convention (Akhil Bharatiya Kala Sadhak Sangam) of Sanskar Bharati to be held in February 2024 in Bengaluru.
The poster lists possible themes on which reels and memes can be made, such as ‘All Indians are my brothers and sisters’, ‘Untouchability a curse’ and ‘Reservation’, among others.
Elaborating on the competition, Ashok Kumar Tiwari, national executive member of Sanskar Bharati, told ThePrint that the “idea is to connect with the youth through this exercise”, and cited the “kumbh mela” as a “great example of social harmony”.
“The Kumbh is a great example of Samajik Samrasta because it doesn’t differentiate between people based on caste, creed and race. The entire society comes together. So why can’t the youth make reels on this (subject)? We just need to change the mindset of people,” he said.
A senior functionary of the organisation told ThePrint: “The chosen reels and memes will be given prizes and this will encourage the youth to make reels on issues of national importance. At the same time, rather than making frivolous reels, the youth will be encouraged to do their bit for society by concentrating on these issues, though the treatment of it can be different.”
Apart from the reels and memes, the organisation has also called for short movies on the same themes, with the last date for submission being 31 December.
The idea, a member of the organisation said, is also to motivate society towards Indian art and culture and make it popular among people.
“We need to enter into a dialogue with the youth in their own language and using a medium that they use. We see that reels and memes have become a tool with which the youth expresses itself, and so we want to use technology to interact with them,” said a second functionary of the organisation.
“Instagram and other social media are flooded with reels and memes, especially by youngsters. These get millions of views but they don’t carry any socially relevant message, so the idea is to channelise the energy of youth for the greater good of society,” the functionary added.
“By engaging with them using their own medium we will be able to understand what they think and what they want,” he explained.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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