A unique initiative by the Kerala History Congress (KHC) is expected to provide history students at St. Teresa’s College a chance to understand Kochi’s past through the stories narrated by people who lived through it.
Titled ‘Cochin Talkies, the oral history archives and museum project will be launched at the inaugural session of the sixth annual international session of the KHC here on Wednesday.
“Cochin Talkies will be a repository for memories of the past,” said Sebastian Joseph, general secretary of KHC.
The project envisages creating audio and video files on various historical aspects of Kochi and its suburbs by involving students of history. They will interview people who had witnessed the geographical, political and cultural evolution of Kochi.
“They would be able to create around 500 such memories in one year. In five years, the number could go up to 2,500,” said Dr. Joseph.
Some of the topics identified under the oral history project include memories related to the urban development in Kochi, Broadway, Marine Drive, cinema halls, clubs and cultural spaces here. Students will interview people having memories about the political agitations and major meetings held in Kochi.
Vinitha T. Tharakan, Head of the Department of History at St. Teresa’s College, said students would be able to convert the oral history assignments as their dissertation projects. “Experts will train them on how to carry out the process of mapping the past memories of Kochi,” she said.
