About
Zedtells is a community media platform based in Kinnaur. We are working with three major objectives:
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1) To build a digital library of indigenous knowledge including (but not limited to) Himalayan flora and fauna, oral traditions, languages, art and architecture.
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2) To build an interactive space for dialogue, discussions and artistic collaborations that strive to reinvent and reinvigorate the age-old traditions of storytelling and other creative forms of expression already present within the communities across the Himalayas.
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3) Building and strengthening practices rooted in critical views, and forwarding diverse voices and ways of Living. We are a growing circle of community elders, farmers, scientists, artists, wildlife photographers, storytellers, animal whisperers, researchers, learning enthusiasts and more. And we seek to activate conversations and reflections across platforms, practices and disciplines to build lasting friendships and solidarities.
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The prevalent socio-economic and environmental challenges, along with the threat of cultural assimilation and/or erasure looms over Kinnaur and other Himalayan communities. Ours is an effort to explore the stories and philosophies deeply connecting cultural, historical and ecological threads of the region. Celebrating the ways of our ancestors, where stories are interwoven with the land and the wildlife, and melodies are tuned to the rhythm of nature. At the same time, we believe it is equally important to question and address the internal fractures and injustices within our own societies. At Zedtells we are deeply conscious of the legacies we leave behind for our future generations.
Team Zed.Tells
PRAMITI NEGI
Co-Founder
Pramiti Negi is an independent research scholar, educator and freelance writer. She has done her Bachelor’s from Delhi University and her Master’s from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She has worked with Adivasi students in Bihar for more than a year towards developing culturally affirming pedagogical methods and practices. She believes in co-creating spaces for learning and the preservation of indigenous knowledge systems.
KAMALJEET THRANGZAG
Co-Founder
Kamaljeet Tharangzag is a startup enthusiast. He is a management graduate from IIM Ahmedabad and an engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee. He has worked with multiple startups in their growth phase and helped them in scaling up by building strategies, and business plans. Hailing from a farming family in Kinnaur, he looks forward to giving back to his community. He wants to apply the knowledge and learnings from his professional life to strengthen people and processes in Kinnaur.
TANISHA NEGI
Co-Founder
Tanisha Negi AKA Nicky is a 3D Artist. She has done BSc Honors in Mathematics from Gargi College at Delhi University. Her work expands across various mediums including 3D modelling, graphic design, video editing, digital illustration and more. She is interested in learning from folk cultures and exploring diverse ways of storytelling.
PREETI SARYAN
Research Co-ordinator (Ecology)
Dr. Preeti has a PhD in Ecology and Evolution of Plants from IISER Bhopal. In the last decade, she has embarked on a remarkable journey, exploring and deciphering the intricate web of life in various ecosystems. Her curiosity has led her to explore various systems such as frogs, Myristica swamp forests, carpenter bees, and gingers in the Western Ghats and North East of India. She is now focusing her research in Western Himalayas, specifically in Kinnaur where she aims to raise awareness about ecosystem wellness, and climate change and highlight the importance of sustainable development. At the heart of her scientific endeavours lies a profound commitment to the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of Kinnaur’s natural heritage. She believes that the most valuable lessons are learned under the open sky, where the intricate ecology unfolds before our very eyes. As an advocate of experiential learning, she asserts that ecology is one such field that unequivocally proves the transformative power of outdoor education.
SWATI SARYAN
Technology Expert
Swati Saryan hails from the beautiful but remote village of Mebar in Kinnaur. She is an entrepreneur, a tech enthusiast, and a nature lover. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of SoftCircuits - a startup that offers innovative technology solutions to people and businesses.
She has done Electronic and communication engineering at IIT Roorkee. Her humble background from a farming family has always kept her connected to the grassroots issues of Kinnaur. Through her work, she constantly strives to advance technologies that empower people and communities to live and work in harmony with nature. As one of the few female entrepreneurs from Kinnaur in the field of technology and innovation, she hopes to inspire and in the future mentor young men and women from the region to explore the transformative potential of science and technology.
NAND KISHORE NEGI
Communications and PR
Nand Kishore Negi AKA Johny was born and brought up in an agro-pastoral family of Rakcham in Kinnaur. He has spent most of his childhood around the natural world and simple ways of life that harmonize with nature’s instincts in working. A travel and tourism postgraduate, he has always been fascinated with the idea of sustainable and community-oriented tourism.
He is an adventure and mountaineering enthusiast and is also working with a few elite climbers to mobilize young men of his valley to participate in the sport and benefit from the opportunities that mountain climbing can offer in their village. He played a major role to built a Material recovery facility in Rakcham set up by Healing Himalayas Foundation- a non-government organization. He is currently working for the government sector in Mumbai. But plans to return to his village permanently in the coming 4-5 years.
ADITI THAKUR
Creatives
Born and brought up in different regions of North India. All her life she has longed, calling so many places home and yet leaving them behind only to begin again. But, somehow her haven will always be where her roots are and where she can be herself: Kalpa. She is a graduate of English Literature, a theater enthusiast, reader, and writer, and has a Radio & TV Journalism diploma from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. She works in a media agency while exploring and discovering what she wants.
ANANYA MATUNGHS
Creatives
GenZ kid with a satirical persona and design approach. Thriving to build concrete concepts by exploring and experiencing.