After a long time, I saw a wonderful movie that deals with the current affairs in the Malayali community. Director Lal Jose made a bold move to present such a brilliant movie. I should say, at times it gets into some emotional outbursts, but it is necessary to give the right shock treatment to the society.
I’m talking about the newly released “Achanurangaatha Veedu” by director Lal Jose, that has comedian Saleem Kumar in a serious role. I think Lal Jose is the first director who dared to deal with the religious controversies like conversion etc. He makes his stand clear that religion should not go after counting the numbers like political parties do. He does not spare the evil in Christianity and Hinduism. He also mentions that regardless of the religion, backward community is considered as backwards everywhere. But this is not the main storyline.
I’m not going to explain the storyline, but in the whole the movie is based on The Suryanelli case involved a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted continuously for 40 days by 42 men in 1996.
I felt myself ashamed of being part of the Kerala community after watching this movie. Having 100% literacy rate in this state, do we really talk about these things? This movie shows the public reaction, the media’s interest etc in such a case. For sometime I thought how a family that is poor and has girls aged 13-18 can survive in this state. It raised a question in my mind, how safe are we in this state where powerful people (in politics, business and society) can do anything as they want??
People easily forgot Suryanelli. Some people may have night-time fantasies of that poor girl, the victim of the case. But the insult they had to suffer from these cowards and the media and the public – can that be easily forgotten? At least, for that family?
The great comedian in the Malayalam movie industry of our times, who was accused of another such case, Vithura sex scandal involving another minor girl, is still a favorite to us and nobody bothered to question him. Ajitha (an ex-naxalite and an active feminist in Kerala) once said in an interview in Mathrubhumi weekly that “I talked to some of the girls who have been victims of such business and I’ve heard that these days Jagathy Sreekumar prefer girls aged below 16”. Where are we going to???
In between, I saw people applauding for some dialogues and that is a sure sign of humanity which isn’t completely vanished from the Malayali community. I’ve never seen people applauding for such a movie where there are no super heroes or super dialogues (as we call some dumo dialogues). And I think it is Lal Jose’ brilliance to choose Saleem Kumar in the lead role, because the director didn’t have to compromise on the subject to adjust it to the likes of the actor.
It is a must-see, guys. All of you who know Malayalam should go see this wonderful movie. We need movies such as this more often. And congrats Lal Jose!! And thank you for making this eye-opening movie. You’re my man!!!
Suryanelli in Idukki district, Vithura in Thiruvananthapuram, Thoppumpadi in Ernakulam, Kiliroor and Kaviyoor in Kottayam district and Kottiyam in Kollam district -- What’s next??
Is this a God’s own country or Dogs’ own country?
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb032005/n12.asp
http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/apr/wom-surynelli.htm
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/06/26/stories/2005062600220400.htm
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pen vaanibham keralthinte oru part aayirukkayaanu ennulahthaaanu sathyam..very sad state of affairs
lal josinu abhinandanangal. Utane kanam,iilenkil theatril ninnum cinema pokum,athanallo nalla cinemayute gathi.
@Vijay -- Yeah. Very very bad.
@Thulasi -- Sheriyaanu Thulasi. ethrem pettennu kaanunnathaanu nallathu. :-)
The problem with Kerala is that it is a society cut off from rest of the world.
Even though there are Keralites across the world, it is very unlikely to come across people of other cultural backgrounds inside Kerala. The people of Kerala are racists, look down upon people from neignbouring states like TamilNadu or Karnataka. It is not surprising that they look down upon their own womenfolk. Women are ill treated in public. Dowry is demanded by most grooms and across all communities. Even though it is the women who usually work harder than the men. For example: The petrol pumps in Kerala are increasinly manned by women.
Things are changing slowly though and only because a few women dare to fight for their rights.
@Anon -- Do you have a name??
The problem with Kerala is that it is a society cut off from rest of the world.
I cannot completely agree with that. If you are comparing the metros in India to the whole of Kerala, it is right, but such a comparison would be complete non-sense because the whole India has only a few cities that has metro culture. Pratibha, a call center employee, was killed after being raped and that happened in a famous metro, that is Bangalore. Do you remember a girl who was publicly been attacked by a man when rest of the public looked upon? That happened in Chennai. Do you need any examples of how a woman can be treated in Mumbai? Forget those cosmopolitan ladies who comutes in their mercedezs or fords.
Just because I show up the problems from my own state doesn't mean it happens only here. What you have to do is, if you truly care, look upto the evil that lays inside the society in different forms. In Kerala, it is in the form of such incidents.
Even though there are Keralites across the world, it is very unlikely to come across people of other cultural backgrounds inside Kerala.
Again this can be seen only in metros. In that case, you can see this in towns like Cochin, where there are people of different cultural backgrounds.
Also, next time come up with a name so that I know to whom I'm talking to.
You have raised some interesting points. I grew up in Chennai and Kerala as a young girl and can identify with the issues here and would like to offer these thoughts:
I would say that while growing up many girls like me suffered the worst abuse while traveling by bus, train or even walking the streets (especially through jeep stands and auto stands) in Kerala! Worst occasion, I am sorry to say was in the famous Guruvayur temple....
Bus kilis (cleaners) that refuse to get down from the footboard when students embarked or disembarked; sweaty, stinky, groping hands that lunged every time the brakes were hit; sexually explicit graffiti in public toilet walls, the list goes on...
I always had the right arsenal. Sharp pointed heels that crushed the abuser's legs, safety pins that pierced right through their groping hands and a loud, REALLY LOUD voice that publicly humiliated the abuser.
How to address this malady?
All schools and colleges must be made co-educational:
If boys and girls are made to study, play and interact in a very early age, they get to know more about the opposite sex, and do not come up with their own distorted versions of the male/female psyche. All schools/colleges should have friendly and knowledgeable counselors that students can talk to.
Sex education must be made mandatory:
Instead of learning about sex from sleazy magazines and adult videos, sex education must be a part of the school curriculum. I don't know about the situation in schools today, but in the late 80s and early 90s, we had no formal sex education in school. I remember that our Biology teacher taught all the biological systems, (Nervous, Digestive, Skeletal, Respiratory ) so well, but when it came to Reproductive System, we were asked to ready and figure that out for ourselves. The topic of SEX was also taboo at home, so the craving to fill your imagination with any nonsense was always the only option.
Sex offenders and molesters are mostly someone known to the victim:
Family members, overly affectionate 'uncles' and sometimes 'aunts' are known to have abused children. On many occasions, the mother/father are aware of the abuse but hush hush the abuse so that the child's name will not be tainted. Most of these offenders are repeat offenders. Not opposing abuse is the same as committing abuse. Parents should have an open mind and firmly confront those that perpetrate the abuse.
Sexual harassment is a function of power and has nothing to do with sex:
It is people who are insecure about themselves that resort to these nasty acts. So, we cannot narrow this malady to Kerala, or any one particular state. Anyone who is overly controlling at home, school or work are potential abusers and must be on your radar list.
Education, Awareness and Strict and Timely Action against Abusers might help solve this problem.
One parting request...
People who pee on the streets and in public view should be given a shock treatment in the right place.
@Mini -- Very well said Mini. :-) I wish our educational/ruling powers read this.
SloganMurugan's take:
God's Own Country. Devil's Own People.
Jo, wonderful commentary, very rarely does our cinema raise above the rhetoric and show social ills, that too without any superheroes running amok.
@Varnachithram -- Yes, you are right. And good to see your new URL. :-)
I agree with Mr.Joseph when he says that he's sometimes ashamed of being a part of this state. Instances like this have been hapening for so long... its high time we did somethng about it. maybe we cannot do anything big. but in our lives....in our small neighbourhood we should stop such abuses."Pala thulli peru vellam" ennannallo chollu!!!!
@Megs - Yeah. Rightly said. BTW, I couldn't see your blog. Can you pass the URL please?