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This Delhi University prof is a big support to the tinkas in Tihar and beyond

Nov 04, 2023 07:09 PM IST

Vartika Nanda, author of the book Tinka Tinka Tihar, shares her decade-long journey of trying to instill hope and recognition of prisoners.

Mai dava nahi karti hun suraj hone ka,

Vartika Nanda's book, Tinka Tinka Tihar, which she co-authored with Vimla Mehra, recently completed 10 years. (Photo: Dhruv Sethi/HT)
Vartika Nanda's book, Tinka Tinka Tihar, which she co-authored with Vimla Mehra, recently completed 10 years. (Photo: Dhruv Sethi/HT)

aur mitane ka,

sara andhkar prithvi se.

Lekin mai ek diya zaroor hun.

(I don’t claim to be the Sun or to wipe out the darkness from Earth. But I sure am a lantern).

This verse is from one of the poems by Aarti, a prison inmate, compiled in the book Tinka Tinka Tihar by Vartika Nanda, head, department of Journalism, Lady Shri Ram College, and Vimla Mehra (IPS).

And just like the essence of this verse is the work of its author, Nanda, whose tapas to lend a voice to the poetry and writings of jail inmates have now completed a decade. “The first edition came out in 2013, and now out of the four inmates, only one is in jail,” she says, as memories rush back to her upon mentioning how her campaign to create a place of dignity for jail inmates has grown over the years.

“The book has been translated into seven languages, and over the years, we have also started Tinka Jail Radio Podcasts (TJRP), which is the only podcast in India dedicated to jails... With the completion of 10 years of the first project, TJRP is about to start a special segment with Tihar inmates... Sanjay Baniwal, IPS, DG Delhi Prisons and Krishna Sharma, Superintendent Women’s Jail Central Jail 6, have been big supporters.”

This isn’t all, for Nanda shares how she has already started work on the second part of the book. “A couple of other inmates have come forward with their verses and the compilation is on... Recently, we marked the decade-long anniversary of this book inside Tihar, and it was heartwarming to see the prisoners enacting the Jail Superintendent and me,” she shares, adding, “With the Tinka Tinka awards, we aim to give recognition to the prisoners and will continue doing so. Now, I’ve also been granted permission by Tihar to publish the writings of women inmates and will begin work on that soon.”

Her thoughts take one back to the reason why years ago she decided to title her work ‘tinka’. “Tinka ka koi support system nahi hai, but there’s a resolve to create rainbows in jails. This is also the tagline of the project, which has now entered phase III.”

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