CHENNAI: While many sections of the society have long since given up on the ‘it takes a village’ practise, the people of Thiruvalluvar Nagar seem to have held on to this wisdom in nearly every pocket of life. From marking Pongal festivities with local talent to attempting to take the art form of parai beyond its caste tags, they are a testament to the inherent power of the collective. Then, it was only natural that the first leg of the Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha — an expansive and more inclusive avatar of the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha — found a launchpad at the Thiruvalluvar Nagar Community Hall on the day of Maattu Pongal.
For the transformation of the neighbourhood celebration into the thriving Kalai Vizha is the result of the work of these people taking their slice of life beyond their own nagars and pettais and defining what makes a community in the process. “While in the initial years, the Kuppam Vizha was a two-day affair in one place, we’ve had requests from many places about taking these festivities to their neighbourhood too. And so year by year, the Vizha grew with one added event here and there,” says Monali Bala, one of the many people associated with the Vizha.
Thiruvalluvar Nagar Pongal Theru Vizha marked the start of the festivities this year. Leading on a high note, it introduced to the art world, the children of Thiruvalluvar Nagar’s Kalaikoodam and their prowess in parai. For 20 minutes, kids between the age of seven and 15 years regaled the audience to a delightful rendition of the traditional art. The children’s trainer — Deepan of Nanbargal Kalaikuzhu — was a happy man that night. This was yet another testimony to what the Kalaikoodam has managed to achieve in the two years since inception.
The Kalaikoodam too was a product of the community — to provide the ways and means for the children of the area and beyond to learn the art of parai. It was Deepan’s work with the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha that eventually had him training children in the art that he had dedicated his life to. He and his band of fellow trainers now manage three more Kalaikoodam’s in different parts of the city, taking the work to more and more children (and adults).
The paraiattam was followed by a segment of devotional music, this time by Yuva Kala Bharathi. For T Kalaimagan, a celebrated musician and grandson of villupaattu veteran Subbu Arumugam, the community hall was familiar ground. His grandfather had performed there when it was little more than an open building with a thatched roof and people still remember him for it. Keeping in line with the Kalai Vizha’s ways, the songs of prayer and thanksgiving too were representative of the people it was presented to. Amid devotional classics, Kalaimagan marked the occasion with songs of Pongal, of the farmer’s animal (cattle) and Tamizh itself (with Bharathiyar’s Vaazhga Nirantharam).
It was the night’s final act that tied in perfectly with the theme of ‘community’ that has brought this Vizha together. Hailing from North Karnataka but tracing their roots to the continent of Africa, people of the Siddhi tribe performed their traditional dance, telling tales of their community. The foreign language notwithstanding, their work found great resonance in the crowd watching in. Though worlds apart by pattern and practise, the audience had seen something of themselves in the communal life. After all, it takes one to know one. The next event in the Vizha is the Thirunar Vizha at Raga Sudha Hall, Mylapore, today, 5.30 pm onwards.