Vadodara is my hometown. It is small but beautiful city. Much of its beauty comes from its culture, which seems to be fading. I want to save that. After being back home for the past year due to COVID, I’ve started appreciating the city and it started breathing life into me. When I had the chance to explore it, and listen to stories about the city from my grandparents, I realized there was a lot I didn’t know about. Through my research I observed rich culture and cosmopolitan community coexisted in perfect harmony. This city is a history and deep seeded traditions that often go unacknowledged. There is an urgent need for Vadodara’s residents, specially the younger generation, to connect with their hometown, their roots.
My conclusions: Lack of digital footprints, older generations have tales that need to be preserved, there is room for creating a community to facilitate exchange of ideas, the youth is attracted to the town’s cafe-culture.
I identified that we needed to create and brand an NGO, called Under The Banyan Tree that would resolve this problem. This would be run by a diverse committee, whose goal will be to preserve the cultural history of our town and foster a sense of community for the long run. This will be achieved by organizing events and distributing publications that raise awareness regarding the city’s culture, history and people through 3 strategies:
1) Communicate through tools like NGO’s branding campaign, coffee cups, postcards and social media.
2) Connect the people with coffee table zines and events like cross-generational story telling.
3) Celebration with Annual Baazar event, that serves as a platform to support and highlight the contributions of local businesses, small and big alike.
