An ode to a friend
KOCHI: In the coastal village of Pulluvilla, Vizhinjam, ‘17th Day Studio’, possibly the first mini recording studio in the region, is now home to upcoming talents. While a seven-year-old recorded her first devotional song there, a guitarist nearby fulfilled his fantasy of recording his composition. And on January 17, the studio released its first short film ‘Fiend’.
If for the talented children of fisherfolk, who have almost zero exposure, the studio is the dawn of ambition, daring them to dream; for Sindhu Mariya Nepolean and her family, it is an equivocal reminder, of her brother Manu Nepolean who drowned at the Azhimala beach on September 17 last year. For his friends, those who escaped death, Manu’s room – now transformed into ‘17th Day Studio’ – is a space for conversations, creative pursuits and most of all, healing from grief.
On September 17, 2020, what was initially a farewell party for Johnson Cleetus – one among the nine friends, who was leaving for the United Kingdom for higher studies – turned out to be a calamitous day. Three among them drowned and one’s body was never recovered. While a pall of gloom continues to hover over their respective relatives and friends, Manu’s family have chosen to grieve and comfort themselves in an uncommon manner.
“Manu was tested Covid positive after his demise. As per norms, the three of us – dad, mum and myself – got tested only to realise that my mother and I were positive too. Those were probably the most unsparing and ruthless moments of our life. Amid mourning and Covid, relatives were apprehensive to visit us. We were completely isolated, left to fend for ourselves. Though we requested Manu’s friends to stay away and take the possible precautions before approaching us, they yearned to be with us. This touched us immensely,” says Sindhu.
Sensing warmth and room for anguish, they visited often. “We shared some poignant moments. I relived Manu’s experiences through them; got to know him better. Around the time, I figured that a long-awaited dream of Tenson Jerald, one of Manu’s friends, was to complete the short film he had begun a few months ago. The film was halted, due to unforeseen circumstances. I requested them to continue working on the same, thereby channelling their energy and recovering from the fateful tragedy. Eventually, they agreed. I saw an unseen zeal in them towards completing the short,” explains Sindhu.
Due to her work with ‘Radio Monsoon’, an outcome of the University of Sussex’s Sustainability Research Programme to provide an accurate and accessible weather forecast to fishers, Sindhu had access to hi-fi equipment, including microphones and recording gizmos. She lent the same to Manu’s friends who began working on post-production. Soon, the recording equipment, editing systems and musical instruments found themselves at home in Manu’s room. “On November 17, two months after the incident, we set the studio and termed the same ‘17th Day Studio’. A YouTube channel was launched for our creative pursuits. The teaser of the short film was then unveiled on December 17,” she says.
Sindhu affirms that if it was not for Manu’s friends and the studio, her family would have never come to terms with the loss. “They reintroduced a sense of life to the house. They assured that us even if we lost one, we’ll always have the rest of them,” adds Sindhu. Tenson, who directed the short film, had reached the beach 30 minutes after the misadventure. “I’ve been friends with Manu and most of them for the past 18 years. I miss him. His room and the conversations that followed after his death made me realise that we had to give back to the community and do something for him,” says Tenson. ‘Fiend’ was launched by actress Kani Kusruti and shared by Anarkali Marikar and several others.
You can watch this labour of love on the YouTube channel ‘17th Day Studio’.