A day in the life of a married woman turns into a horror story. She, along with her husband, go to the beach. A group attacks her husband and she is raped. The woman withdraws into a shell. However, the second time such a situation arises, she is not the same person she used to be. She has a few tricks up her sleeve to defend herself.
This is the story of Sakhiye Rowdhiram Pazhagu , a play directed by Jay Thattai, an entrepreneur from London, now settled in Chennai. He has always been inclined to do art works with a message. This play is a response to the increasing incidents of rape in the country. Says Thattai, “Whenever we hear of news about sexual violence, we respond with emojis, and life moves on. Unless, the victim is us or someone we know of. This has long been bothering me. My play will make the audience aware of self-defence against all kinds of abuse.”
The intention of the play is to inspire the women in the audience, aged 12 and above, to enrol for the self-defence workshops organised by Thattai and his team.
“We have been organising these since January this year. The classes are based on the Israeli technique of Krav Maga. They focus on preparing the student to use any object available to them at the hour of crisis,” explains Thattai.
“Be it a pen or a hair clip, anything can be a weapon to aid you. Of course, the first point is to avoid the circumstance. So, we also train them to be alert and be aware at a public spot.”
The inspiration for the play came from poet Subramania Bharati who was all for women fighting against oppression, says Thattai.
“The title is a modern version of his poem Rowdhiram Pazhagu that conveys a sense of ‘Unleash your justified anger by transforming it into energy for the right action’. All songs used in the theatrical dance drama are from the poet’s works.”
The team has toured with this show for quite some time around the city. The feedback has been positive. “In January, we did a show at RR Sabha. Initially, there was resistance from the conservative crowd. We had used the mythology trope, the story of DraupadiVastraharana . But, we were performing to a full house.”
Self-defence sessions are vital to a child’s growth, stresses Thattai. “We also cover the subjects of good touch and bad touch. It is all about being aware to save your life.” The play is interspersed with Bharatanatyam, kattaikuthu , kalari and villu paatu . The dancers are students of Sri Noopurlaya Dance Academy, tutored by Lalitha Ganapathi. The kalari sequences are brought to life by JJ Vasanth, a martial arts expert.
The initiative supports the alternative art school Kalaikoodam, a venture by Urur-Olcott Kuppam Vizha, a cultural festival. The school offers subsidised art classes for art lovers. If they get a good response, they plan to stage the play twice. Their goal is to train at least 1,000 women in India in self-defence by January 2019 for free.
The play will be staged at Kalaikoodam, Thiruvalluvar Community Hall, Urur Olcott Kuppam, Besant Nagar on April 28 at 6.30 pm. For donor passes, visit https://tinyurl.com/y7hbzhp4. Tickets, priced at ₹200, are available at the venue.
