They fail to wash away their woes
Express News ServiceFirst Published : 02 Feb 2010 02:40:00 AM ISTLast
Updated : 02 Feb 2010 07:38:52 AM IST
CHENNAI: Oorukku Oru Kudi (The lonely families) a documentary film is
a poignant portrayal about the lives of dhobis (washermen), who were
discriminated and pushed to margins of the society.
The film was a handiwork of filmmaker Thirumani, which leaves behind
the message of a much-needed social transformation for the viewers to
ponder. He said, "This film is about the people who were tormented by
the caste system, vanquished to the very margins of a social order,
who almost have a shadow existence in this society, by a social order
which is supported by the religion." This story is about the dhobis
who wash the clothes of the Dalits.
Julius, a dhobi woman from Tindivanam said, "Even in my village, the
Dalits do not want us to take up other jobs like tailoring,
carperntry.
They feel if we stop serving them, they feel a loss of prestige in the
eyes of others." Thirumani said, "That is the saddest irony, even
Dalits who suffer discrimination in the hands of others, want someone
to be under him to feel superior, this attitude should change."
Dhobis, who are scattered and less in number, are not even counted
properly by the census. The 1991 census say they number 27,000 in the
State. According to NGOs estimate including those who have converted
to Christianity and Islam in search of a social recognition the dhobi
population in the State should be close to 7.5 lakh.
One of the highlights of the film is that the dhobis should be
included under the census. The story ends with a thought provoking
quote, where one of the dhobis say, "When we go to the thalisdar
office, they say because we are Christians we belong to BC, but when
we come back to our village we again become a dhobi, where our job is
to wash other's clothes, we do not have any respect." The film also
highlights other issues like their landlessness, lack of
socio-economic mobility, poor educational access and hardly any
political representation. The release of the movie was organised by an
NGO Community Care Trust.
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