Imagine Another World: Stories of the COVID-19 Experience in India

In addition to the direct and devastating health and economic implications of COVID-19, the pandemic is exacting a heavy emotional toll on countries around the world. Like the United States, India has weathered high rates of infection; as of February, 2021, nearly 158,000 deaths have been registered there. Grief, uncertainty, isolation, and displacement have impacted people across the country, who are struggling to maintain their courage as they address the needs of those who are most vulnerable. While the relief of a vaccine is on the horizon, community building and mental health support continue to be urgently needed.

Recognizing the dual value of personal storytelling for promoting wellbeing and eliciting compelling, relatable portrayals of lived experience that can educate the public and document this moment of historic significance, StoryCenter and the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India have worked together to develop the Imagine Another World project.* Local staff in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi nominated colleagues as storytellers, who gathered in small groups during the fall of 2020 for a series of two-part, online workshops. After guiding participants through a process of learning how to tell powerful stories and supporting them in sharing their COVID moments in a Story Circle designed to offer solace and nurture solidarity within each group, we worked with them to craft written pieces for publication with photos and COVID safety information. A sub-group of these storytellers then worked with our team in the spring of 2021, to produce their stories as a powerful set of short videos, using artwork, animation, and film footage.

The resulting stories, created by representatives from the health, education, government, journalism, civil society, and arts sectors, provide a window into how people in India are struggling, coping, adapting, and acting with compassion. They document poignant instances of grief, hope, generosity, and gratitude, serving as an example of a creative community of people committed to mitigating the impacts of COVID-19. The storytellers and the Embassy and Consulates in India are circulating the stories widely, offering readers across India a chance to gain inspiration for making a difference and witness a countrywide archive expressing myriad perspectives, visions, and moments of grace, during an unprecedented time. View the entire collection of written stories here.

* Note: the title of this project is inspired by an article by Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy, published in the spring of 2020. Roy writes, “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”