A colourful census

WHOEVER THOUGHT the census had a colourful side to it ? Navarathri `Golu' is the newest thing that has captivated the jaded staff conducting the decennial census.

Petrol bunks and nationalised banks have been making the news with their ``Kolu'' offerings, but the latest to say it with icons is the Director of Census Operations, Tamil Nadu.

What better way to understand the Census of India 2001 than with some colourful icons.

``Many people think that census operations are a mere head count and the people have no role to play in it. This is not right,'' says Dr.C.Chandramouli, Director of the operations. The enumeration work would be complete only when the people participate in it and they understand the various things that go into it, he says.

So how does the Kolu tell the story about what it is looking for ? It uses a setting such as a small village with a well in one corner, a group of people sitting and children reading and playing. A busy by-pass road close to the village full of vehicles. A typical village atmosphere.

The census is interested in children attending classes, homeless population, cultural characteristics of a society such as marriage, people visiting religious places, various kinds of workers like farmers and unorganised labour sector and these have all been depicted with dolls in the `kolu'.

Goes to show that the census is not just sheets of paper and dull notes. It is about people and what they are doing.

Organised on the third floor of E Wing in Rajaji Bhavan, Besant Nagar, the dolls exhibition is open to the visitors between 4 and 6 p.m. from October 4 to 10.

By P.Oppili

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