For those in Europe, the film will be playing Etnofilm in Rovinj, Croatia later this month and Ethnocineca in Vienna in mid-May.

Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir! has also screened at numerous festivals since our last update. For the full schedule of screenings please see our website

In addition to festival screenings we’ve done a number of university screenings followed by Q&A sessions we’ve conducted via Skype. These have worked out surprisingly well and we are always happy to work with schools to organize such screenings. Just drop us an email if you are interested.

We hate paying for things which we don’t get to keep, so we are especially pleased that Vimeo offers filmmakers the option of including file downloads as well as online streaming. If you watch our film online on Vimeo you can also download a copy of the film to your own hard drive and watch it whenever and wherever you want.

Since we first released the DVD people have been asking us about online access, and after looking at all the available options we feel that Vimeo On Demand offers users the best possible viewing experience. If you haven’t seen the film yet, we hope that the ease of using Vimeo On Demand will convince you to watch it today! If you do watch it on Vimeo, please be sure to let others know how much you like it by leaving a review.

Although Vimeo On Demand splits revenue 90/10 with the filmmaker, there is a hefty annual fee. For this reason we aren’t sure how long we will be able to keep the film online, so consider this a limited-time experiment. We don’t expect to turn a profit, but we do need to break-even…

Online streaming via Vimeo as well as the downloadable movie file are intended only for individual viewers. We ask that those interested in holding public screenings of the film, such as classroom use, continue to purchase the DVD via our via our website. We offer discounts on DVD purchases by individuals, non-profits, and community colleges.

A recent Hindu op-ed rightly notes that, “Thackeray’s genius was giving shape to an authentically Indian Fascism.” And its roots are in the decline of the working class in Bombay. It considers the Shiv Sena’s fascism a “politics of the young,” specifically young men.

But how about the seldom discussed perspective of women? Not the young women who have been arrested for their update on Facebook and ‘liking’ said update. But the women who make the politics of violence possible. This is a good time to revisit Atreyee Sen’s excellent ethnography, Shiv Sena Women: Violence and Communalism in a Bombay Slum. 

Sen argues that women in Mumbai slums who engage in violence within the rubric of the Shiv Sena Aghari groups, do so for completely rational reasons. Their capacity for violence gives them a space to maneuver in a patriarchal society. Not only are they able to carve out some power for themselves in their communities, it allows them to engage in collective action to address the issues facing their members, like abusive husbands, and access to local resources like water. Outside of their community, it gives them a sense of power while dealing with the highly unequal equation that exists in their place of work, whether between the memsahib who employs them as domestic help, or the sweat shop owner for whom they labor. Highly circumscribed as this power is, it is has an inarguable materiality.

Sen concludes on the depressing note that for the slum women in the Shiv Sena, it is imperative to maintain a low level of permanent conflict with their neighbors, usually Muslims or migrants from other parts of India. It is through the threat of violence that they can wrest resources and status from their environment. A return to normalcy would increase the pressures of patriarchy on them and alienate them from what little they have. What is even more depressing is that this violence, in order to stay relevant, has to be transmitted through their children and menfolk. In a situation like this, how is a non-violent civil society possible? As usual the answer lies with women.

I have been working on a project about mural paintings in Dehradun. These paintings date from the 18th to the early 20th century, and can be found all along the valley.

Its been quite a journey trying to find a way to read these images. It has taken me from Art History to the politics of the environment to the birth of modern Indian theatre.

Even as I was trying to understand what I was seeing, I was also encountering all these lives that were unfolding around these images.

‘Wall Stories,’ is about that journey. I’m working through my ideas and am posting bits from the film for feedback. Thanks for watching.