Cultural harmony by the sea

A ringside view from Sridhar Chandra

Well the dust, or should I say sand, has just settled on a period of hectic cultural activity on the shores at Besant Nagar, more specifically, in Urur Olcott Kuppam, a tiny bustling fishing community which tantalisingly edges better-known, affluent, educated, ‘sophisticated’ neighbourhoods here.

How ironic that in order to reach Urur Olcott Kuppam, you have to turn into a narrow lane just past the famous US food-chain ‘Subway’ outlet! Urur Olcott Kuppam is essentially this small lane and a few other by-lanes dotted with narrow houses having no compound walls, small shops/eateries which lead onto even poorer neighbourhoods of ramshackle houses built with thatch, metal sheets, tarpaulin, etc. All these culminate roughly about 50 metres from the roaring Bay of Bengal. And then there is the majestic, suitably-titled Ellai Amman Temple (Border Goddess Temple) which overlooks a stretch of land/beach leading to the sea. These two contrasting neighbourhoods (the affluent and the less privileged) have been this way for decades, standing side-by-side yet culturally cut-off, till a couple of innovative and well-meaning individuals, one a musician and another a journalist – T M Krishna and Nityanand Jayaraman – decided to turn status quo upside down, at least for a few weeks of the year with the  ‘Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha’!

Nalandaway Children’s Choir

The motto of the event is aptly ‘Celebrating Oneness’! This vizha, that is, ‘festival’, was designed to break down cultural barriers like never before. The result was there for the naked eye to see! I was taken aback to see a programme that listed ‘Parai-attam’, ‘Villu-Pattu’, ‘Bharata Natyam Recital’, and ‘Contemporary Folk Music’ on the first day and ‘Nagaswaram-Thavil-Vadhyam’, ‘Children’s Choir’, ‘Carnatic Kutchery’, ‘Kuppam-Kids Bharata Natyam’ and ‘Indi-Pop/Funk Band’ on the second! All of these turned out to be short yet delectably conceived and executed programmes emanating from vastly different socio-economic streams of society but staged in an open ground on the beach colourfully done up with large sail-like structures forming a backdrop.

When I walked in on the first day, navigating my way through milling crowds, I realised that here was a tapestry of human kinds, ranging from kuppam residents (families who had descended with their children, many of them running around half-naked), the usual music sabha aficionados (typically upper-tier individuals wearing

kurtas/sarees/churidars/modi-jackets, etc.), Caucasians (ranging from those touting fancy video/still cameras, women clad in Indian dresses/bindi, missionaries, etc.), and of course the millennials (the mostly agnostic, modern and irreverent youngsters, many of whom seemed to be volunteering as well) in large numbers! All were clearly drawn not only by the novelty of the event but by the sheer joy of watching and relishing a variety of art-forms nicely encapsulated to fit into two weekend evenings by the sea, at a time of the year when the weather-gods are still smiling on Chennai!

Kuppam MCs.

I got talking to Lakshmi from the kuppam who was sitting on the ground along with her daughter Keerthana. She seemed to be very happy about the whole event and pointed to the two young girls who were doing the compering (MCs) as “talented” neighbours. To paraphrase Lakshmi, “Those girls always had a loud/bold voice”! She said the kuppam in general loved the event (perhaps with the exception of their “tight” brethren, who would rather be in TASMAC on Sat/Sun evenings!) and wanted more of such fun evenings! The other women sitting around unanimously nodded their approval with smiling faces. I felt suddenly glad that I’m here sitting on the ground on a kuppam beach happily conversing with kuppam women and listening to and watching a Carnatic music recital unfold at the same time! 
 
Each item was designed to be short and sweet and hence managed never to bore. It was a happy sight to see the millennials participating in Paraiattam, the Brahmin maamas/maamis slipping into dance during the Raghu Dixit/HN Bhaskar folk music, Caucasians applauding the scintillating Bharata Natyam of Sheejith and his troupe, the kuppam kids overflowing with talent not only in dance and music but also in compering and participating in the events. A stellar example was when the Carnatic musician Vijay Siva quizzed the local children to name the deity and locale each of his songs represented. While there was the lure of a prize, it was heartening to see the concentration of the children trying to identify ‘Siva and Chidambaram’ for the song ‘Sabapathikku Veru Deivam Samanamaguma?’ and so on.

Talking to T M Krishna you sense his intensity and desire not only to break barriers but also to heal through art! Towards this, the organisers skilfully interspersed the cultural bonanza with ‘Award and Recognition’ to sections of society who gave so much to mitigate the calamity that befell the city during the recent monsoon. Chennai’s fisherfolk, the city’s conservancy workers and the youth who spontaneously rallied around putting their own health and lives at stake, were all honoured. And aptly, the parents of Imran, who was martyred during his relief-effort, were present at the festival.

Even as I was wending my way back from two thoroughly enjoyable evenings, the images that remain etched in my memory are the glittering performances of a variety of talented people in front of an openly appreciative crowd, the happy faces of the kuppam residents as they simultaneously watched their children mingling with the audiences seated in plastic chairs and on the ground. The incessant roar of the ocean waves was, a mighty reminder of the fact that, for Mother Nature, all are one and the same.

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