TBI Blogs: How Well Do You Know the Indian Constitution? Find out Now, and Have Fun in the Process!

Despite being one of the most important documents in India, few Indian citizens completely understand the Constitution and what it entails. A new initiative hopes to turn this around, but through fun interactions and games, not boring lectures or presentations.

TBI Blogs: How Well Do You Know the Indian Constitution? Find out Now, and Have Fun in the Process!

Despite being one of the most important documents in India, few Indian citizens completely understand the Constitution and what it entails. A new initiative hopes to turn this around, but through fun interactions and games, not boring lectures or presentations.

Ask anybody detailed questions about the Constitution of India, and chances are there will be prolonged ummms and aaahs. We have all studied about the Constitution in school. But then, it was all about cramming the paragraphs, and vomiting the information out on the examination sheet, because learning was all about passing with flying colours, getting a “Student-Scholar” badge, and making your parents proud. We forgot about the practical learning while running in the rat-race to score the maximum marks. The most important learnings were left to judgements in the form of numbers and grades.

Ask people what the significance of the Constitution is to the citizens, and you’ll get plenty of head scratching. Some will say, “It’s extremely vital as it is ‘written’ and hence is testimony of the rights and duties of every member of the nation.” Others will reply, “It gives us fundamental rights, and there are some duties with it as well.”

Don’t you sometimes wish that books were like a USB drive which you could just plug into your head and transfer all that information that you “should” know about the Constitution?

It’s an arduous job to pull out books, make notes to feed the brain, and turn into an aware citizen.

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That’s a lot of money and time invested and all this planning will eventually be forgotten anyway! Wouldn’t it be much better if you could imbibe new information not just by rote learning, but rather by performing tasks which would not require some random stationery for you to keep yourself motivated?

What if you were to go out on the streets, meet people, do adventurous tasks, and roll a dice and play a game, and while doing all this, also get to learn some facts about the Constitution? Wouldn’t that be exciting? That’s where Samvidhan Live Game – The Jagrik Project kicks in. It’s a game “of the young, by the young, for the young”; an initiative for young people to live, understand, and own the Constitution.

Samvidhan LIVE is not like the sit-on-your-seats, take-out-your-books, pay-attention, pin-drop-silence-in-the-classroom, listen-to-your-teacher, nobody-speaks-when-the-teacher-speaks sort of environment. It’s about NOT doing any of that. It’s about being loud, being inclusive, making noise, and bringing people to talk, share, and learn. Because after all, life is a classroom, and it should not be stodgy.

You have to just take one thing seriously, and that’s ‘FUN’, because it’s serious business!

Designed in the format of a real-life simulation, Samvidhan LIVE has created a platform for young people to live the ground realities of the Constitution, be aware of their fundamental rights, understand the significance of their fundamental duties, and imbibe the values enshrined in the Constitution of India. Over 400 young Jagriks (Jagrik = Jagruk (aware) + Nagrik (citizen)) around the country, engaged through various organizations, have come together for this unusual game, and to address their quest for fun and learning.

Samvidhan LIVE is all about executing the framework of the Constitution on an individual level by observing spaces, real-life incidents, and behaviors around us, and by executing our rights and duties, which we often violate or do not exercise since we are oblivious to them. The game offers a space to answer some of the questions asked above, but in a fun and meaningful way. An aware citizenry is the basis of an inclusive society, and that’s exactly what Samvidhan Live – the Jagrik Project is all about.

It is not a lecture-hall series; rather it encourages a space beyond the usual four spaces of family, leisure, education, and work.

This “5th space” is a co-created space which allows young people to be themselves, explore their interests, and understand their worth and potential without being judged by ‘adults’ or anyone else.

The 5th space marks all those spaces or platforms that take you on an inside-outside learning journey, where you take the leap from “Me” to “We”, from Self to Society. It is also about co-creating spaces where volunteers can identify their behaviours and the consequences of their actions.

Through Samvidhan LIVE, 23 youth-based organizations across 15 states in India have come together to create similar 5th spaces for young people. The 6-week long game focusses on deepening the volunteers’ refl-action (Reflection+Action) abilities. It will also help them articulate their understanding of the Constitution, while performing tasks and engaging in discussions with peers.

One can only wait to see the outcomes of the game. But are the outcomes that important, when the journey itself is so beautiful and inspiring? Hundreds of young people have already started on this journey. They will craft stories for life-long learning that will make them more responsible and aware citizens.

Find out more about #SamvidhanLive on the project’s website.

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