As social anthropologists researching contemporary India, we are interested in studying social action, values and modes of interaction at a time when the nation is undergoing profound political, socio-economical and ideological shifts. We look at the way people organize their lives around the issues of public participation, health, governance, finances, education, and increasingly, environmental and climate-related futures.

The firmly established partnership between the Department of Anthropology, Leipzig University and Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education, New Delhi brings together academics, practitioners and organic researchers from working class neighbourhoods in Delhi in a deep collaboration and sustained dialog with one another. With over three decades of experience working in these localities, Ankur is actively engaged in pedagogical interventions involving children and adolescents in research and writing in and about their own neighbourhoods. Already having jointly researched on the topics of urban health and banking, the collaboration thrives on the intellectual capital of the community and the ability of its inhabitants to grasp and make sense of larger societal changes in their daily lives.

With travel restrictions, risk and uncertainties over in situ research onset by COVID-19, we embarked on a project called Covid Diaries in which researchers from Ankur gathered stories about the ways in which the unprecedented full national lockdown (24 March 2020 which continued for several months) was experienced. Most of the families members living in these neighbourhoods predominantly work in the informal economy and the lockdown had a major impact on their source(s) of livelihood. The economic strain of the lockdown was compounded by the social and psychological impact of hygiene regulations, social distancing measures, restricted mobility and increased police presence (and violence).

This podcast is adapted from the Covid Diaries project, and narrates direct observations of selected individuals - daily wage labourers, homemakers, migrant workers, adolescents and children in the time leading up to and following the lockdown measures. It is organized along four themes present commonly in all the stories – domestic atmospheres, online schooling, work & survival, and bodily awareness/hygiene. These stories document the stress, pragmatics and ingenuity with which the protagonists manage the household and care for the wellbeing of their family members. We highlight challenges and disillusionment along with the perdurance of hope, aspiration and community support.

This podcast is an example of how collaborative research multiples the points of perspectives from which data is gathered and interpreted in ethnographic fieldwork. By building a solid and sustained partnership with local researchers, we not only place our ears firmer to the ground, but also tackle the challenge of building durable relations of trust and collaboration in a post-colonial world.