Men and women behind bars often find themselves at the receiving end of public animosity, hatred and mistrust. Most often the public’s approach is fueled by the negative media coverage, focusing on sensationalism rather than facts, public gratification rather than sensitization and above all lies the truth of the short-lived memory of both the media and the public. It does not take more than one other piece of sensational news or information, before everything is dropped as is and the media move on to the next prey. In this entire milieu the reality of lives of people right in the midst of the whirlwind is left ragged and ripped. Their identities labelled and laden with condemnation, their families left to deal with a literal death blow to their reputation and with little or no chance at the possibility of attempts at any kind of repair or opportunities to be heard. The burden is heavy to carry.

Echoes is a work in progress, using creative forms of expression to create a collage of voices and pictures, sketches and narratives, prose, poem and plays, a creative expression of people’s journeys on the pathways of justice. These are the expressions of not just prisoners but of family members, neighbours, relatives, friends, any and everybody who has in some way or the other been associated with people in conflict with the law.