Kapila Venu and Naveed Mulki collaborate on a visual interpretation of Perumal Murugan’s poem ‘Kaigal’, sung by TM Krishna

Kapila Venu, Naveed Mulki visually interpret Perumal Murugan’s Kaigal on manual scavenging

The classical art forms of India are being reinterpreted by many practitioners who are pushing the boundaries by coming up with creative productions that focus on modern India and social issues.

The latest effort to give the classical arts a new relevance is a nearly 10-minute video on ‘Kaigal’, author-poet Perumal Murugan’s hard-hitting poem on manual scavenging that has been composed and sung by Carnatic vocalist TM Krishna.

When Koodiayattam artiste and choreographer Kapila Venu first heard ‘Kaigal’ (hands), she was mesmerised by the powerful lyrics, which had been composed and sung by Krishna. A fan of the vocalist, she happened to listen to his album of renditions of Murugan’s poetry. The fact that he was singing about the evils of manual scavenging moved her. “The lyrics, the music, and the imagery it evoked were unforgettable,” says Kapila.

Author-poet Murugan’s raw lines speak about manual scavenging and the indignities heaped on people forced to work as scavengers on account of their being born into a particular community.

Kapila had presumed that the practice had died out in the country over the years. “Even then, I was disturbed by the fact that the less privileged people were supposed to clean someone else’s toilets. So, when I heard the song, I kept listening to it on loop.”

Kapil asked Krishna if she could work on the song; both he and Murugan had no objections to her visualising the lines. A few days later, she sent the song to Naveed Mulki, a filmmaker friend of hers. “It touched him as well, and he too wanted to work with the song,” says Kapila.

Naveed and Kapila were aware that they had to approach it with great sensitivity and caution. Naveed recounts both reading up on the practice and how communities engaged in scavenging were stigmatised on account of their work. They realised that dry toilets still existed in places in India, and even in places where the practice had been stopped many years ago, “The community found it difficult to escape the stigma. They found it difficult to get other opportunities,” adds Kapila.