India’s classical art forms are being reinterpreted by many artists, who are pushing the boundaries through creative presentations focusing on modern India and social issues.
The latest attempt to impart new relevance to the classical arts is a nearly 10-minute video on ‘Kaigal’, a hard-hitting poem on the practice of manual scavenging by writer-poet Perumal Murugan, composed and sung by Carnatic singer TM Krishna.
When Koodiyattam artiste and choreographer Kapila Venu first heard ‘Kaigal’ (Hands), she was mesmerised by its powerful lyrics, which were composed and sung by Krishna. Being a fan of the singer, she had listened to his album of Murugan’s poems. The fact that he was singing about the evils of manual scavenging left her deeply impressed. “The lyrics, the music and the imagery it evoked were unforgettable,” says Kapila.
Writer-poet Murugan’s raw lines speak about manual scavenging and the humiliation heaped on people who are forced into scavenging just because they are born in a particular community.
Kapila speculated that the practice has ended in the country in the last few years. “Even then, I was disturbed by the fact that less privileged people had to clean someone else’s toilet. So, when I heard this song, I kept listening to it over and over again.”
Kapil asked Krishna if she could work on the song; she and Murugan had no objection to him visualising the lines. A few days later, he sent the song to his filmmaker friend Naveed Mulki. “It touched him and he wanted to work on the song too,” says Kapila.
Naveed and Kapila knew they had to approach this task with great sensitivity and care. Naveed had read about the practice and how manual scavenging communities were stigmatised because of their work. They realised that dry toilets still existed in many places in India, and even in places where the practice had been phased out many years ago, “the community found it hard to escape the stigma. They found it hard to find other opportunities,” says Kapila.
Naveed, who filmed Kapila’s ‘Mahishasuramardini’, loved the experience of working with him. “I felt our inspirations were similar,” he says.
He explained how one feels numb to the scenes of day-to-day suffering and the tendency is to shut it out from the mind or turn one’s head away. He decided to approach this project with respect and care.
After doing research, he decided to film Kapila performing on the lines of ‘Kaigal’. Shot in Irinjalakuda about three months ago, the nearly 10-minute film beautifully presents Kapila on the lines of Murugan.
Kapila in a scene from ‘Kaigal’. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In a statement released along with the short, Naveed says: “Perumal Murugan’s poem and its soulful rendition by TM Krishna provided us with another door to enter the horrific world of manual scavengers… It started a conversation, helped us better understand their worldview, helped us acknowledge the depth and scale of this social condition. And our starting point was to respond in our own expressions. In movement and in frames. It is a voice, in a resonance of voices, trying to shed light on the need to bring back the anchor of dignity, the fullness of life that every human being should have a fundamental right to.”
Wearing bangles, running fingers through the sand, and holding a broom and a wicker basket, a pair of gaunt, work-weary hands depict the humiliation of the manual scavengers’ work. In the background, Krishna sings: ‘Should dirty excreta be picked up with hands?’ In a claustrophobic space depicting a dry toilet, Kapila imagines the suffering of a manual scavenger who uses his hands – to plough, cook, hug and pray – to clean the toilets of others.
Kapila and Naveed chose a small location to capture the dry toilet space where workers are expected to work. “We shot with spontaneous emotions and went with the flow. Then Naveed edited it and we showed it to Krishna and Perumal Murugan,” says Kapila.
They knew that since it was a sensitive issue, it could go wrong if not done properly. They debated whether they were even qualified to talk about it. “Coming from very privileged backgrounds, we didn’t want it to be seen as some kind of offence. [cultural] “Still, we felt we should talk about it,” says Naveed.
TM Krishna (left) and Perumal Murugan. | Photo credit: Jothi Ramalingam B
Krishna and Perumal Murugan gave the green signal to the project and said that they liked it.
Perumal Murugal loved the way the poem was presented and the response it evoked. Kapila also had a long chat with Krishna. “I wanted to make sure we didn’t do anything that was politically incorrect. He told me that when they were singing the song, people had all kinds of opinions about it,” says Kapila.
When he wondered if such a melodious song should be made on such a serious issue, Krushna told him, “It is also important that people see the beauty and discomfort of the subject together. This will make people notice it and think about it.”
This also cleared her doubts about the film, as “it is a beautiful film, technically well made and beautifully framed.” She understood that this short film is one person’s filmmaking style and was in no way deliberately made to romanticise the subject.
Kapila and Naveed worked on improving it further and then uploaded it on their channel and Instagram account as well.
Kapila elaborates, “We discussed a lot about whether it would be right or wrong to work on such a project. But we decided it was important to talk about it. The most important thing is from what position we choose to talk. We have tried to stay positive and are open to all kinds of criticism.”
The performance in the shade adds to the immersive experience of the short. Naveed says that the video, shot in a small space and Kapila’s practice stage, puts the two spaces together to present a metaphor of two phases of life – when one is still exploring and the phase when one is experienced and strong, when one is truly independent.
“The camera moves from a spotlight in the darkness to embrace the infinite darkness. It is a visual language that complements the lyrics of the song,” explains Naveed.
The film is dedicated to Kapila’s friend, the late Bhakti Neferti, who scolded Kapila when she complained about the dirty public toilet at the bus station. “She scolded me and said if it’s not clean, we should clean it ourselves. Why does one assume that a less privileged person was always obliged to keep our toilets clean for us!”
