The Jenu Kurubas

As a part of our Cultural Studies course, we went for a field trip to H.D. Kote off Mysore. As a team we visited the National Folklore Support Centre's Digital Archive centre and also many tribal settlements or haadis. Our professor, M.D. Muthukumaraswamy had already given us an overview of the Jenu Kurubas or the 'honey gatherers', a forest tribe, who lived in the forests/ the forest peripheries of Karnataka and northern Kerala.

Before we started on the field trip we read a book written by Mr. Ksheerasagar, who had worked extensively with the Jenu Kurubas. The book was titled, 'Playing with the Children of the Forest'. It talked about how the children of this forest tribe had various games and toys which were intertwined with the forest itself. Their life and outlook on life was deeply rooted in the forest itself.

We were introduced to Dr. Peter Claus an anthropologist and folklorist from the Fulbright Academy. He showed us a short film called the Rabbit Proof Fence, with the tagline 'If you were kidnapped by the government, would you walk the 1500 miles back home?', as a mood setter for our trip to H.D. Kote.

Once we reached H.D. Kote, we spent our days meeting tribal leaders and members of the Jenu Kuruba community. These people were originally forest dwellers till the Government passed the Forest Act. After that they were forced to vacate the forests and live in the forest periphery and in the villages. They still struggle as they have been uprooted from their natural surroundings. They crave to go back to their forests. They face an identity crisis as there is an inevitable clash of living conditions. They have been given box like constructed houses by the government and the children go to village schools, while the elders are still itching for the forest.

The children took us to the forest periphery one day and showed us wild roots, and different tricks and games with plants, flowers and leaves. They cooked the wild roots and served it for us. It was quite yummy with its smoked taste. We were also given black tea with jaggery.

Somanna was another stunning character we met. He is a powerhouse of knowledge about herbs and animals. He is a tribal leader who contested in the MLA elections only to be defeated by a fake tribal candidate. He is a very simple and humble person who spent days with us explaining things to us and accompanying us on our trips to the various haadis.

Prof. Kikkeri Narayan is another expert on the Jenu Kurubars. We were honoured to have him as well with us for a few days. He showed us many documentaries and gave scholarly inputs on the Jenu Kurubars, their rituals and practices, their language composition and their beliefs.

We spent one night at a Girijan school near another haadi, where we stayed in one of the classrooms. It was a one night halt, as that particular haadi was quite a distance away from the dormitory where we were staying on the other days. We got to interact with the school going Jenu Kurubar kids the next day morning.

At the end of the 5 days, we had collected some 'life experience narratives' or 'oral history' of the Jenu Kurubars. Ours was an academic trip there, so all we did was to document what we observed, heard and experienced there. We did make a presentation and a contribution to the NFSC digital archive before we left. As we left, we realised that the Jenu Kurubars had touched our hearts in a manner that's very unique and extremely difficult to verbalise. There was one amongst our group who actually had tears in her eyes as she said bye to Somanna.

Orwell's Animal Farm

Finally I read it. I had read 1984 long back, dont know how on earth I did not pick this book up till now.
Allegory. Obvious references to events in Russia during the Stalin era.

Wonderful thought to use animals for the allegory. We are all after all animals. And so are the politicians and the leaders. And the beastly intentions reduce all grand ideals and intentions to absolute zilch... back to square one. The utopian objectives or the revolution are soon forgotten due to private agendas and shallow mindsets.

I especially loved the 7 Commandments of Animalism and also how they manipulate each of those commandments to get their way.

The best part was how it all comes crumbling down.

George Orwell, Animal Farm... short satire, yet extremely powerful in driving home the message.

i'm the catcher in the rye...

I read the book by J.D. Salinger. I was told that the book is quite pointless and goes nowhere. I think that is precisely what I liked about the book. The way the boy who is kicked out of school keeps thinking different thoughts, that have absolutely no connection whatsoever to anything worthwhile. And the way he calls everyone around 'phony'. He wanders, he does not understand the purpose of having serious to the point discussion, or acting all intelligent and having a point of view on inane subject. He really does not say much in the book about ideas that change the world or about the world economy or any such.

Its just the way the mind goes. The way we wonder why a lot of things are the way they are. I dont know if there is a catcher in the rye for everyone, but I sure know that I am pretty close to one. I have not been expelled from school, but on many other counts I find similarity :).

Loved the last page of the novel.

"A lot of people keep asking me if I'm going to apply myself when I go back to school next September. It's such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean how do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you dont. I think I am, but how do I know. I swear it's a stupid question. "

and the last thing he says is that "I'm so sorry I told so many people about it (all the people and things that happened in the book). About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about.... It's funny. Dont ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

:)

Colour Tandava!

What kept me busy in November and December?
Colour Tandava- an exhibition on Colour Concepts in South India. We researched, conceptualised and created the exhibition which was on for a month from 23rd December, 2009 till 20th January, 2010. It was an absolute fun journey right through. We are proud to have Good Earth from Bangalore as our sponsors for the same.

Like words, colours create a different meaning individually and when placed one next to the other. Especially in India, some colour groups signify concepts inherent to the Indian psyche.

This exhibition presents some prominent clusters of colours and their symbolism. Meanings change depending on what colour/ colours accompany another colour. But what is consistent across these colour groups is the depth of meaning and a striving for ‘balance’.

‘Balance’ in our daily lives, in temples and rituals, in performing arts, in streetscapes and living spaces, and finally, in our contemporary lifestyle and media...Colours say it all...

A collage with the different cloths that are made from natural dyes, and a look at some of the sources of the natural dyes.

A look at some of the colour clusters...

9 colours making sense: The word graham (planet) means to grasp or take possession of. The planets are believed to temporarily seize the health, wealth and general well- being of people.

Know them all- the food for each graham, their colours, their gems and their kolam patterns.

8 colours making sense:

Ashtarasas:
Dance Drama forms of South India present an extremely vibrant show of colours. The costume and make up in all these cases are not purely for visual appeal but also play an important role in determining the nature of the character.
Characters are generally classified according to their temperament which is dominated by one particular sentiment or Rasa. As per the Natya Sastra, there are 8 Rasas – each of which has been represented by a colour.

Ashtadikpalakas:

The Ashtadikpalakas are the guardians of the 8 directions.

The God guarding each direction is represented in the exhibit by a specific colour, according to the Vishnudharmottarapurana and the Agamas.

7 Colours making sense...

Saptaswaras:

In Indian classical music, each swara has a specific colour and when in combination with each other, various Ragas are created(Samaveda has mentioned the 7 swaras, their respective colours, related god, grahas(planets) etc.). The corresponding colors of these swaras are as follows, which are known from the planet ruling that swara or tone.

Saptasvavahana:

Surya or the Sun God is known as the Saptasvavahana/ Chitrabhanu as the seven horses that draw his chariot are Sveta(white), Rakta(red), Krisna(black), Pita(yellow), Harita(green), Kapisa(grey) and Nila(blue).

5 colours making sense...

Panchabhuta:

The Panchabhutas or the Five elements, along with the sun, moon and the self are supposed to form the body of Siva. There is a system of correspondence of five colours, five symbolic shapes, the five senses, five planets, five forms of Siva, and five South Indian temples (Panchabhuta temples).

3 Colours making sense...

The Trinity and the Trigunas:

Vishnu the preserver, Brahma the creator, and Rudra the destroyer- are represented by White, Red and Black respectively.
The Matrtanta explains that the three inner qualities or triguna- Sattva(Intelligence or Brilliance), Rajas (action), and Tamas( inertia or darkness) are also represented by the same three colours White, Red and Black.

2 Colours making sense:

Red & Yellow:

Yellow (as in Turmeric) signifies intellect/ knowledge/ wisdom and Red (as in Saffron) signifies love. Usually Turmeric is mixed with Saffron as Intellect is meaningless without Love.

Red & White:

Have you ever wondered why the walls of most South Indian temples are painted Red and White?
These two colours together represent Prakriti and Purusha, the two all important concepts in the Universe. Red and White in tandem with each other represent creation through the union of Purusha (white, the male principle) and Prakriti/ Shakti (red, the female principle).

These two colours represent the Theory of Dialectics, the same concept as is represented by the Yin and Yang, the Ardhanarishwar, and many other such examples that are present in different sciences from across desciplines.

Mamallapuram

Firstly, it is not to be called by the name Mahabalipuram or 'Mahabs'- our Temple Architecture prof says with absolute scorn. It is Mamallapuram, named after the great Pallava king, Narasimhavarman who was also known as Mamallan.

Pallava architecture at its best, there are relief sculptured rock panels, cave temples, monolithic shrines and structural stone temples here.

One of the best here... Arjuna's penance panel. It is a great riddle in stone at Mamallapuram. Some say it is Arjuna’s penance, others contend it is Bhagiratha’s penance and some others believe the panel has scenes of Naga worship. It is wonderful how the same panel could be depicting one of two very prominent scenes from the epics- Arjuna doing penance to Shiva for the pashupata astra or Bhagirata doing penance to get Ganga to descend on to earth and Shiva coming down to help him Ganga descend onto his knotted locks and then to earth. The most beautiful aspect is the natural cleft in the rock panel that is used to depict the water body in the scene. When it rains, it must be beautiful to see water gushing down this cleft, bringing this whole scene alive.

The Krishna panel, depicts the Govardhanagiridhari Krishna, or Krishna lifting the Govardhana mountain to save his kinsmen from the torrential rains. This is also an interesting panel as originally it was made in a way that it seems like Krishna was lifting the rock above, which is not visible in this picture. If you visit this now, there is the additional mandapa which was added by the Vijayanagara rulers, in front of this panel.

The Pancha Pandava Rathas: Firstly, the nomenclature here is misleading as the monolithic structures have nothing to do with the panchapandavas and these so called rathas do not have wheels as well. Leaving the name aside, these are a set of 5 monolithic temples, where a huge rock has been chiselled into four cuts thus arriving into 4 pieces, the bottom is the same. The pieces are named as ‘the Draupadi ratha’, ‘the Arjuna ratha’, ‘the Bhima ratha’, ‘the Dharmaraja ratha’ and a separate one called ‘the Nakulasahadeva ratha’.

The Mahishasuramardini cave Temple: This cave temple is based on the story of Durga killing Mahishasura- the buffalo headed asura. The Mahishasuramardini panel shows Durga pulling the string of the bow just about to let go of the arrow to kill Mahisha. The sivaganas are around her and her hands are holding various weapons- the chakra, the gada, the bow and arrow, etc. She is shown on her vehicle- the lion, which also gives her the name ‘Simhavahini’.

Poetry in stones, these sculptures and architectural wonders make a visit to Mamallapuram totally worth it. There are more interesting temples and panels here, but these are my favourites, so that all you get here. :)

Different styles of Indian Paintings

A quick look at some different styles of paintings from different regions in India.

Madhubani:

style of painting that has its origins in the Mithila region in Bihar, thus it is also known as Mithila paintings. Originally done by womenfolk during festivals and marriages, now it is done by men as well. The common motifs mostly symbolise fertility, some of them are: fish, parrots in union, a male and a female bird facing each other, entwined male and female cobras, goddess, etc.

Thanjavur paintings:

With its use of golden relief work and glittering gems Thanjavur style of painting is a major school in South Indian art. The themes are largely religious, though secular portraits are also found. These painting are also made as murals or on unusual media like glass and ivory. The gods/ images painted were originally Vaishnavite but later even Saivite themes were introduced.

Kalamkari Paintings

Kalamkari is an exquisite ancient craft of painted and printed fabrics that has its origins from Andra Pradesh. Kalam means pen and kari means work, literally pen-work. There are two styles of Kalamkari art- the Masulipatnam style as seen in AP and the Srikalahasti style as seen in TN. The former follows Islamic motifs whereas the latter had popular motifs from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Warli Paintings:

Folk paintings from Maharashtra. These are very different from other folk and tribal paintings in India. They are painted on mud, charcoal, or cowdung based surface using only white colour, and are decorated with series of dots in red and yellow.

Kerala Mural Painting:

Kerala Murals can be traced back to the 17th century AD. The themes are mostly from the Puranas and the Great Epics. The Panchavarnas or the five colours- red, yellow, green, black and white are prepared from mineral pigments and vegetables. The paintings were originally done for Hindu temples, but they were found in Churches depicting stories from the Bible.

Thangka Paintings

These are traced to the 7th century AD, and they are a sacred tradition of Tibet. 'Than' means flat and 'ka' means painting done on, which essentially translates to painting done on a flat surface. It also means that which can be rolled up. They are mostly vertical rectangles. The themes are usually religious. They have geometric patterns and normally show pictorial depictions of biographies of saints.

Rajasthani Miniature Paintings:

Miniature paintings were brought to India by the Mughals. In 1555 Humayun , returning from exile in Persia, brought painters along with him. There are two types of miniature paintings in India- Rajasthani from the central plains and Pahari from the Himalayan foothills. Kishangarh paintings come under the Rajasthani group of miniature paintings. Raja Sawant Singh fell in love with a slave girl known as Bani Thani or well dressed. He commanded his artists to paint her portraits and since then Bani Thani and the king were shown as Radha and Krishna. These miniature paintings are very colourful.

Roland Barthes and some !!! concepts

Roland Barthes- French semiotician, literary theorist and philosopher.

Writing Degree Zero: Following the theory that experimental writing as well as established styles of writing were not original, Barthes set out to define what is truly original and unique style of writing/ ecriture which he defines as Writing Degree Zero- which has no embellishments, as the writing in The Stranger by Albert Camus. He also stated that any form of writing faces the threat of being a conventional style after the writing is published or open to the public.

Death of the Author: Barthes declared 'the death of the author' stating that the general notion of assuming ultimate authorial authority or the author's intended meaning of a piece of text as final is over. The meaning of a piece of writing lies with the reader, it is no more in the hands of the author.

Camera Lucida: is his work on photography, touching upon various concepts of photography as well as serving as a touching dedication to his mother after her death. He wrote this remembering a photograph of his mother that he had seen year's back. He stresses that in photography, the given image exhibits a stat of 'having been there'. The image really did exist and it was not concocted by the photographer's imagination. This is the most important difference between photography and most other arts.

Barthes has written about music, fashion, semiotics, mythology and many other such varied topics.

Still reading.!!