After becoming the first ever transwoman to enrol for Kathakali at the RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Thripunithura, Renjumol Mohan has now bettered that history by bagging first rank in BA Kathakali Vesham at Mahatma Gandhi University.
It was a bitter sweet moment for Renjumol as the 36-year-old did not have immediate family to share her moment of glory. Her parents had died since she left home back in 2015 while her elder sister, her only sibling, no longer contacts her. Nevertheless, she remains proud of her achievement.
“I have had no backlog from any semester, which was a condition to be considered for the rank. The college and classmates were supportive. I am now comfortable in my skin and has learned to ignore any uncharitable comments,” said Renjumol.
She, however, has chosen not to pursue MA but fine tune her skills under Arya Devi Thiyyadi, a Kathakali performer, among the 1,000 artists selected under a fellowship instituted by the State Government jointly with the local bodies. Incidentally, Ms. Thiyyadi is an alumni of RLV College and a first rank holder herself in BA Kathakali Vesham in 2021. Under the fellowship programme, the chosen artists are paid nominal salary by the government.
“The training under the fellowship programme is imparted irrespective of age and is free. The syllabus followed by Renjumol is not part of the syllabus followed under the fellowship. Yet, I am doing it as a special case,” said Ms. Thiyyadi, who is doing her post-graduation.
Kalamandalam Radhakrishnan, head of the department of Kathakali at RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, recollected that Renjumol was a disciplined student who attended classes diligently. He said that another transperson had joined the Bharatanatyam course since Renjumol joined the college. Mr. Radhakrishnan was also instrumental in her joining the Kathakali course as his encouraging response to her letter emboldened her to go ahead with her dream.
Renjumol grew up in a family influenced by arts, especially percussion. In fact, Kathakali itself was not that alien to her, with her father’s friend being a noted Kathakali performer, who inculcated in her a love for the art form at a very young age.
Renjumol had another distinction to her credit as she probably became the first transwoman to make her debut in the venerated art form of Kathakali when she performed to the music as Krishna in Purappadu, an opening segment in Kathakali back in November 2022.
