Friday, July 30, 2010

[ZESTCaste] From the fringes

http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/27/stories/2010072759750300.htm

From the fringes
DEEPA GANESH

Janamanadata's Ooru Keri, based on one of the most influential Dalit
autobiographies in Kannada, was lively and charming

Siddalingiah's autobiography "Ooru Keri" brings to mind yet another
Dalit autobiography, Marathi writer Lakshman Gaikwad's "Uchalya". Both
these works recount the trauma and suffering not only of an individual
but also of the whole community. Their narratives open up the
underbelly of the society; they bring the world of the poor and
underprivileged living on the fringes of the society to centre stage.
However, there is a vast difference in the tone that these two writers
adopt to construct their worlds: Siddalingiah is understated and
couches anger and angst in humour, in Gaikwad it is pronounced. What
drives Siddalingaih's composed voice? As the late culture critic D.R.
Nagaraj put it, it must be "the voice of the creative writer."

Interestingly, the theatre group Janamanadata, which had staged
"Uchalya" years ago, now staged Siddalingiah's "Ooru Keri" at Ranga
Shankara recently. With a team of competent actors, the production was
lively and charming. The play directed by M. Ganesh, a drama teacher
at the Ninasam theatre institute, was a fairly convincing stage
version of the autobiography. Retaining the first person narrative of
the autobiography, the protagonist was performed by all the actors of
the team in turns – making it the story of everyone who shared
Siddalingiah's time and space. Many episodes that get a mere mention
in his autobiography acquire fascinating visuals in the course of the
play.

The sets were minimalist and the backdrop which was a patch of black
and white was evocative. Truth, in all its bareness, transcends
compartments of black and white. The presentation was poignant in
episodes that defy typecasting. For instance, both Siddalingiah's
teachers, Nagappachar and Andalamma, were benevolent and refuse to fit
into upper class stereotypes. Also, the story of Siddalingiah's uncle,
who was well versed with Lakshmisha's "Jaimini Bharatha" which again
breaks our notions of the unlettered Dalit. Particularly moving is
Siddalingiah's grandfather who was moved by Gandhi's speech and turned
a teetotaller, a vow that he kept all his life.

The play kept the emotions of each phase intact: from the joy and
surprise of childhood to the more reflective adulthood. In this
journey there is also a sharp departure from the community to the
individual. In that it moves from a small canvas where personal and
public spaces merge to a larger one which begins to locate the self in
society. The narrative of the play is sensitive to the demands of the
text throughout. However, the play doesn't escape the danger of an
autobiography adapted to a stage performance. It changes the tone of
the narrative. Siddalingiah maintains a low mimetic, muted expression
in the text, but in the play his voice acquires a self-indulgent tone.
Siddalingiah subverts moments of deep anguish into clownery, but they
become coarse in the production — particularly when Gaddar is invoked.

Music by Swamy Gamanahalli was exceptionally good, capturing all the
native nuances. The performance by each of the actors was extremely
proficient.

Janamanadata's intervention is important. It not only keeps the
tradition of interaction between literature and other forms of
cultural expression alive, but also re-examines these texts and the
forces that shaped them. Questions emerge: what political and social
ideologies would shape a Dalit autobiography of today? Have the
marginalised gained in dimension?


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