The list of traffic violations in Madurai is a long one. Be it haphazard parking, stopping beyond the white line at signals and blocking the path of pedestrians, drunken driving, reckless driving, talking on cellphone while riding - Madurai residents do it, with aplomb.
The city police, in recent times, have started to set things right through various measures. They work hard to bring some order on road by placing metal barricades on arterial roads so as to slow down vehicles and ensuring discipline at signals. However, for a city steeped in traffic violations, it is a mammoth task to make people follow rules.
First there must be an attitudinal change in road users. For this to happen, a group of Madurai youth has produced a video, Warning Anthem ( Echarikkai Geetham ), to educate the public on the dos and don’ts on road.
Penned and sung by Se Tamizh alias S. Senthilingam of Senthanal Nigalthuk Kalaiyagam, who is doing his doctorate at the Department of Folklore and Culture Studies of Madurai Kamaraj University, the video encapsulates all traffic violations one witnesses in Madurai in four minutes. Interspersed with candid visuals of traffic violations and police disciplining some, the song, Pandiya mannukkunnu thevaiyana paattuthaan, shows a breathtaking bird’s eye view of Madurai’s roads and popular landmarks.
To give a glimpse of the ‘Pandiya mann,’ the drone camera has captured Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple complex, Goripalayam dargah, St. Mary’s Church, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, World Tamil Sangam, Tirumalai Naicker Mahal, Gandhi Museum, Periyar bus stand, Goripalayam, Kalavasal… these places, with all the greenery, look so beautiful and surprisingly, very orderly when seen from above.
While the lyric is meaningful, covering the whole spectrum of traffic violations in typical Madurai dialect, the music composed by D. Immanvel of Alpha Music Academy lends it a rustic feel with a catchy tune. Be it direction, editing, cinematography, the youthful team of Vignesh Shankar, A.M. Karthikeyan, Aravind and M. Parthiv has done a professional job despite meagre means and facilities.
Commissioner of Police S. Davidson Devasirvatham has come forward to release the video on August 15. For a start, if such awareness videos are uploaded on Madurai Kavalan and Madurai City Police apps and the Citizen's portal of Tamil Nadu Police, they will have a wider reach and serve the purpose.
