There is a palpable thrum of energy you sense between Liz Haynes and Sangeeta Isvaran, like a complicated mesh of underground cables we cannot see, that makes them shine even on particularly tired post-workshop days. It’s hard to explain this interconnection that carries its intensity lightly, and harder still to find recourse in that elusive word — serendipity — to say, ‘this had to happen’. For the night Haynes landed in Chennai, having quit her finance job in the U.S. to temporarily volunteer for an NGO while she figured out what to do next, she met Isvaran — a classical dancer, choreographer and social activist — who asked Haynes if she would like to help her push a vandi ( cart) the next morning through Urur Olcott Kuppam, a fishing hamlet in Besant Nagar, to spread gender awareness.
Six years later, Haynes is still here, the vandi has become a lorry, and Haynes and Isvaran have together taken the idea of breaking conditioning patterns beyond the narrow lanes of the kuppam to spaces across the country through their organisation, Katradi.
“Actually, we don’t only work with gender stereotypes, but engage with different communities entrenched in belief systems. We work with women, refugees, youth, parents and children, trainers, the differently abled, and everywhere it is some form of conditioning that we are dealing with. So the exciting part for us is to then develop activities and strategies to bring about change within those spaces,” explains Isvaran.
They do this with a clever mix of movement through sports and performance — Isvaran manages the ‘head-heavy’ indoor part of their sessions — where participants face difficult questions about themselves and encounter hard truths through group activities; and Haynes manages the outdoor sessions — where they learn to play Ultimate Frisbee, the only mixed-gender, non-contact, self-officiating sport in the country, which becomes the most effective tool for men and women, girls and boys, to play on an equal, respectful, non-judgemental footing.
Bridging the gaps
“I learnt Ultimate Frisbee along with the girls and boys from the kuppam, and became part of their team, and I saw how powerful this sport could be. For teenage boys who constantly hear they are ‘good for nothing’ and ‘useless’, and for girls who cannot speak to boys, leave alone play in a team with boys, this brings a new narrative of empowerment and equality into their lives,” says Haynes.
I met them at Haynes’s shared apartment near Besant Nagar beach after their eighth ‘Bridging the Gaps (BTG)’ workshop, held in Kolkata in association with the U.S. Consulate. Isvaran was battling a severe backache, talking to me mostly while horizontal, and Haynes, who had gone straight from Kolkata to Ahmedabad for the national Ultimate Frisbee tournament, looked visibly drained.
And yet, there was no mistaking the vibe of two disparate cultures finding common ground, and the friendship taking root. “The first night I came to India and we went to the beach and ‘her’ kuppam, I saw everyone coming up and grabbing her attention and I thought to myself, ‘Who is this chick?’” says Haynes, and Isvaran is quick to add, “I think there is so much drama in Tamil culture, even in how we narrate our stories, that it was great to have Liz come in and balance things, to be the person in our workshops who says, ‘That’s enough crying now, let’s go play.’”
Building trust
This balance of movement, between elements of Bharatanatyam and sport, is a unique combination that has been validated by several governmental and non-governmental organisations. “There is no ‘dance’ per se; we are not teaching an art form. But I use elements from dance and theatre to create spaces for listening, to drop judgement, to build trust. With Ultimate Frisbee, we are actually teaching it. Sport and dance do have some things in common though, like acting in the moment, making a decision, and that all-important ‘eye contact’. These are the things we can design, these moments, and we debrief immediately,” says Isvaran.
Using empathy as a tool, they have found their rhythm organically, the silver trail of change behind them guiding them forward. Like Vetri, their new Tamil teen superhero comic book set in the kuppam. Or the vandi that is now an annual event called ‘Lorry Lollaku’, or their frequent collaborations with Therukoothu artist Thilaga.
“What is underpinning our work is creating this sense of community so we can change small behaviour patterns. For us, when someone says ‘I will wash my own clothes, not my mom’, it is as important as the government changing a law,” says Isvaran. And perhaps, then, in this not-so-perfect world, ‘this had to happen’ will find new meaning.
The writer edits an art magazine.
