Tinka Tinka Foundation celebrated World Poetry Day on March 21, 2022, with a special podcast episode recounting the poetic compositions released as a part of its countrywide prison reforms campaign. Spearheaded by media educator and prison reformer Dr Vartika Nanda, the not-for-profit organisation through its years-long journey has given new wings to several inmates under its unique Tinka Model of Prison Reforms encouraging inmates through the mediums of art, literature, music and poetry. These poetic verses were focused closely through the latest and the 35th episode of Tinka Tinka Jail Radio, the exclusive podcast series on YouTube on prison reforms, conceived, scripted and voiced by Dr. Nanda.
The episode featured an invocation of poetry written by inmates from Tihar, Dasna, Agra, and Madhya Pradesh, along with a special segment expressing gratitude to jail officials and administrators for their support and encouragement. It highlighted a few memorable verses penned by inmates including Seema Raghuvanshi who, with Rama, Riya and Aarti, wrote the poetry adorning the exterior walls of Tihar Jail, during her confinement, motivated by Tinka Tinka. The poetry was compiled to help construct the seminal work, Tinka Tinka Tihar. The episode also recalled key poetic compositions written by inmates from Central Jail, Agra, and District Jail, Dasna, including the work of Dr. Nupur Talwar, wherein she extensively documented the memoirs of her departed daughter Arushi through her written expression during her sentence.
The podcast also featured poetry written by inmates from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, many of which were broadcast through Tinka Jail Radio, or culminated through the many poetry books under the Tinka Tinka umbrella. A special segment of the episode was the poem, “Chahat” written in 2015 by an inmate, Radha Mohan, which had won the first prize at the Tinka Tinka India Awards in the same year. The poem encapsulated the radiant energy of the inmate’s inner voice, motivating him to stand against all odds of life and fight his way to the end despite his circumstances.
The inmate-community was also encouraged, through the podcast, to keep immersing deep into the world of poetry, art and music, in its pursuit of inner strength and liberty. Through its distinct platform, Tinka Tinka Foundation has enabled a creative communicative movement in the prison community and has opened the windows to India’s prisons for mainstream society.
Tinka Tinka is the brainchild of prison reformer and media educator Dr. Vartika Nanda who heads the Department of Journalism at Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi. She has been honoured with the Stree Shakti Award from the President of India in 2014. Her work on prisons has twice found a place in the Limca Book of Records. Her prison reform efforts were taken cognizance by the Supreme Court of India in 2018. Her recent research on the “Study of the condition of women inmates and their children in Indian Prisons and their communication needs with special reference to Uttar Pradesh” has been evaluated as ‘outstanding’ by ICSSR.
Tinka Tinka Foundation’s initiatives are known to have facilitated reform and empowerment of inmates across India through the creative means of music, art and literature. Tinka’s flourishing endeavour to set up jail radio across India’s prisons has reached 7 out of 19 jails in Haryana, District Jail, Agra, as well as District Jail, Dehradun. The growth of prison radios is part of an ongoing study on the Tinka Tinka Model of Prison Reforms. Every year, the Tinka Tinka Foundation also encourages inmates and jail staff by conferring the exclusive Tinka Tinka India Awards.
The author of this article is a final year student, Department of Journalism, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi.
