About
The Archival and Research Project (ARPO) is a not-for-profit organisation to discover and share lesser known aspects of our cultural heritage in accessible and creative ways.
ARPO was started in 2021 as a collective with a shared belief that understanding our culture and heritage will help us create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future. Through multimedia storytelling, digital archiving, research, events and interventions, we seek to improve our access and understanding of our roots. Our areas of interest include local histories, art, architecture, culture and folklore.
ARPO is set up as a Society under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 (Reg Number: TVM/TC/830/2021).
Our approach
Our primary aim is to make lesser discussed cultural knowledge accessible. We do this by identifying subjects and engaging with them through creative cultural and social projects. These are shared on popular media to foster better connections between a wide range of audiences and the subjects of interest.
Beyond documentation, our idea of conservation and promotion looks for ways for reconnection. For those familiar with the cheering cry ‘ARPO’, usually heard at the regatta races of Kerala, it is followed by a resounding ‘IRO’. We could not help but expand this thinking to see if cultural archiving could be extended through active engagement processes like Intervention, Restoration and Outreach. This could mean facilitating creative collaborations for artists, artisans and other cultural practitioners in the creative and financial economy.
Our Values
At ARPO we share a collective belief that understanding our culture and heritage will help us create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future.
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Respect
We hold deep, non-hierarchical respect for all communities and cultures, free from judgment or discrimination. We value every individual irrespective of their race, caste, religion, gender, or any other social construct, fostering an environment of positive regard and equity.
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Collaboration and Co-creation
In every endeavor, we prioritize collaboration and co-creation. This applies both within our own team, ensuring diverse perspectives are integrated, and with all our stakeholders, including the communities we serve and our partners. We believe the most impactful solutions arise from shared effort and mutual understanding.
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Professionalism
We strive to bring efficiency in the use of our time, financial resources, and other assets. Professionalism for us means keeping the mission and the work at the forefront of every decision, coupled with unwavering honesty and uprightness in reporting our progress and operations.
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Solution-Oriented Mindset
We approach challenges with a proactive, solution-oriented mindset. Our focus is on identifying effective, sustainable strategies and interventions that directly address the needs of cultural preservation and community empowerment. We aim not just to identify problems, but to actively implement practical, impactful solutions.
Team
Sruthin Lal
Executive Director
Sruthin Lal is a social entrepreneur, multimedia journalist and storyteller. Previously, he led the newsroom of Asiaville, covered the business beat for Hindustan Times, co-founded multiple media project. He occasionally writes articles for The Hindu and the Frontline Magazine. An alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Sruthin was listed among 51 notable mobile journalists by Journalism.co.uk in 2021, and was selected by the US State Department for the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP). His noted work was the coverage of the migrant labour crisis in Uttar Pradesh during the Covid-19 lockdown in the form of a video documentary, which he and his colleague shot on mobile phones by travelling about 700km on bicycles from Delhi to Lucknow. He has a background in Indian classical music and dance and is deeply passionate about art, history and culture.
Parvathi AR
Director, Projects and Outreach
A passionate researcher and an art enthusiast, Parvathi is one of the founders of ARPO. She holds a master's degree in economics from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and was working as Assistant Professor of Economics at the Government College Munnar. She is now pursuing her PhD in Public Policy from IIT Delhi. She is a Mohiniyattam dancer and also a trained singer. She has hosted cultural events for organisations including ICCR. Books are her companions and she also loves to travel.
Amrutha M
Administration & HR Manager
Amrutha is a graduate with a degree in Physics and a deep passion for history. Her professional background is diverse, having held executive roles in various sectors. Amrutha's journey with our organization began as a volunteer at ARPO. Her dedication and talent led her to transition into a full-time role. While Bangalore was her childhood home, Amrutha's frequent visits to Cheliya, a village in Kozhikode renowned for its Kathakali artists, fostered a lifelong love for traditional performing arts.
Vysakh Seluraj
Lead Researcher
Vysakh is an anthropologist whose work is rooted in empathy and community engagement. With a keen interest in people’s lived experiences and value systems, he has spent the past several years working closely with indigenous and farming communities across Kerala and Karnataka. His journey blends research, storytelling, and co-learning to explore how communities sustain their culture while navigating change. At the heart of his work lies a belief in the power of human-centric approaches and the importance of shared narratives in shaping more inclusive and sustainable futures.
Vimal Hari
Video Editor
Vimal works with visuals, where stories take shape through frames and edits. With close to seven years of experience in the media space, his practice has largely revolved around editing — yet his engagement goes beyond the edit table. Having independently created documentaries, he brings a sharp eye for narrative and an instinct for storytelling that is grounded and empathetic. Over the past two years, Vimal has deepened his focus on visual storytelling as a medium to document, reflect, and engage with people and their realities.
Advisory
ARPO is a growing community of researchers, storytellers, artists and creative professionals of different stripes. We are fortunate to also have advisors who have been generous with their time and wealth of knowledge in their respective fields to support our work.
Swarup BR
Independent Advisor
Swarup is a brand strategist and communications expert with over three decades of experience. As Creative Director and Managing Director of Stark Communications (1994-2014), he played a key role in transforming Kerala into a premier global tourism destination through internationally acclaimed, award- winning campaigns like Your Moment Is Waiting. Since founding BR&S Consultants in 2014, he specialises mostly in healthcare branding. His work establishing Aster Medcity as Kerala’s most powerful healthcare brand redefined healthcare communication across the State. A certified coach and mentor, Swarup has translated two books from Malayalam to English for Harper Collins. Swarup serves as pro- bono advisor to many social initiatives, combining intuitive creativity with strategic planning.
Manu S Pillai
Independent Advisor
Manu is an acclaimed Indian historian and author known for his works on the Travancore monarchy and the history of Princely India. His books have been widely praised and have earned him several awards, such as the 2016 Tata Prize for best first work of non-fiction and the 2017 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar. In addition to his writing career, Manu has held various positions, including serving as the Chief of Staff to Indian MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor and working with the BBC on their Incarnations History series.
Manju Sara Rajan
Independent Advisor
Manju Sara Rajan is a columnist, editor and arts manager. She is presently a Senior Advisor at Asian Paints and the Editor-in-chief of beautifulhomes.com, India’s largest design and décor content platform by Asian Paints. She is also a founding member of the Bengaluru-based KAASH Foundation, which creates and showcases art and contemporary design products from within India’s vast crafts heritage. She is the former CEO of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, where she oversaw the management of Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016. She was the founding editor of the Indian edition of Architectural Digest, which set new benchmarks for the coverage of design in India by featuring spaces that had never been open to the public and visualizing a design style that is uniquely Indian and contemporary. MSR began her career in 2002 as a reporter in Time newsmagazine’s Asia bureau in Hong Kong, before moving to India and other media publications like Indian Express, Mint Lounge, and Open magazine. Almost two decades of experience in media and arts management has provided her with a great deal of insight into the creative and commercial parts of the fields of design, art and media.
Contact us
If you like our work and would like to get in touch with us, write to us at arpo.india@gmail.com, or director@arpo.in.
You can also find us on social media.
