Nihira Ram, Online Events Coordinator at the Foundation for Agrarian Studies, presented a seminar titled “Sound and Servitude in Colonial Bihar and Orissa” at the office of the Foundation on Friday, February 4, 2022. This presentation drew from research during her Master’s programme. She talked about the circuits of domestic wage work and slave-servitude in the erstwhile Bihar and Orissa Province under the colonial administration through sound archives (i.e. audio, text, and paintings). She discussed specifically on women who worked in the capacity of ayahs or were slave-girls, their labour and livelihoods in the region, and how the perception of them changed over time during the colonial period.
