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Blogs by ajayan

Posted Jul 03, 2008 | General | 808 Views

Behind the bars

It was a day of celebration at the Coimbatore Central prisons. The prison lodges plenty of inmates with various crime records from petty theft to bomb blast accused persons. Once I was invited to address the inmates at a function. I transforme... It was a day of celebration at the Coimbatore Central prisons. The prison lodges plenty of inmates with various crime records from petty theft to bomb blast accused persons. Once I was invited to address the inmates at a function. I transformed the dull routine with pencil sketches of the inmates who posed for me and the DIG of Prisons and the Superintendant couldn't escape the lure. They too were captured on paper. 'Why don't you teach these poor fellows Art', DIG asked me. I too couldn't resist the temptation. At least one day every month I could escape from my own jail to this place. My young friend Chandrasekar ventured to accompany me. He is also a MSian (scratchuheadu). Our classes were real hits. Our students tried and tried to bring out accurate figures on their papers. From their routine monotony , this was a relief to meet two idiots who regularly enter their dens to teach them. But we had our own intention to see the prison. The immaculate kitchen, cleaner and hygienic than any five star hotel kitchen, the cell where the great freedom fighter V.O.Chidamparam Pillai was kept, the execution cell were all the places where any ordinary citizen couldn't enter. The students comprised of mostly lifers and accuseds of both religions connected with bomb blast activities. They all know me personally, as I hail from the same area where bombs were made and where the first violence erupted. Basic techniques in art were taught, and they too practiced seriously. My forte is human figures and Chandraw teaches them cartoons. Coming back to the Celebration day, it was by the local Rotary people who donated prizes for sport events and other provisions like buckets etc. On my part, we conducted a drawing competition for the students, selected the winners and announced that we will buy the prizes from our pockets, mostly water colours and Art pencils. They too were overjoyed. On the special day, the prison hall was full of VIPs with full suits and society ladies fully made up, with/without knowing they were causing disturbance to the sex starved inmates. The prizes were given away, written speeches read to the yawning audience, cameras flashed, and many people were awarded for their 'services' to the inmates.The Prison officials were stiff faced and serious in the presence of the honoured VIPs. Nobody cared to call us who were waiting with our small gifts, and our students were agitated. The flashy people left . And after the persuasion of our students we were invited to stage. We called out the prize winners. But before that our students want to gift something to the DIG and the Superintendant. Even I was not aware what the presents were. The gifts were unwrapped on the stage. They were pencil portraits of the DIG and Supdt. The stiff officials were moved. Laughter of joy and pride blossomed on their hard faces. The atmosphere changed to happiness and fanfare. They caught my hand and thanked. I felt very low, my prizes were very cheap comparing with the ability of my students. read more

Posted Jul 02, 2008 | General | 520 Views

Third gender

Last week we had a screening of Santhosh Sivan's 'Navarasa' at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery, Coimbatore. The film club office bearers invited a group of Aravaanis (Eunuchs) to witness the film and give their views. The crowd was very little.... Last week we had a screening of Santhosh Sivan's 'Navarasa' at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery, Coimbatore. The film club office bearers invited a group of Aravaanis (Eunuchs) to witness the film and give their views. The crowd was very little. The Aravanis turned up. They were hectic built middle aged beings well decorated and in shining sarees. And only one young and handsome, sorry, beautiful accompanied them. Padmini was tall and claimed herself as a classical dancer. They saw the film. Most of the viewers opened their heart exposing their prejudice against these people. Many expressed their bitter experiences with them in trains and other public places. Some spoke about the sexual invitations by these folks in public parks. Madhana, the leader of the group first established the fact that they were not beggars or sex workers. You should not weigh everyone with the same scale; If you brand them as sex workers as a whole just because you met one or two, will you call the entire womenfolk as prostitutes as you could have come across some, she shot back. In fact Madhana or Madhanagopal is one of the leading caterer for marriages in the city. Her non veg preparations like Biryani have invited plenty of customers, and helpers, all Aravanis. They are always busy with booked programmes of cooking. They live in a commune, share what they get from catering orders, they even own a couple of houses. She remembered the days when they were denied houses for rent, and now she is a landlord leasing her houses for people who avoided them once, and her pride showed off in her speech. Padmini recalled her turmoils when her parents kicked her out during her college days when she revealed her feminine side more. She confessed with a naughty grin, she has to spend more at beauty parlours to enrich her beauty and long hair. The audience consisted of seniors like me and a great lot of our film club members, all students. The meet gave a new perspective of what we see in our daily life. We parted with a new outlook. read more