ALAPPUZHA: Written and directed by Thoppil Bhasi, Aswamedham (horse sacrifice) is considered one of the classics of Malayalam theatre. The drama shed light on the torrid living conditions of lepers in the state. Its movie adaptation was also well received.
Bhasi wrote the play during the time he spent near the Leprosy Sanatorium in Nooranad, Alappuzha while going underground during the 1948-52 period. Walled off with its prison cells and high compound walls, he realised that the areas adjoining the sanatorium would be an ideal hideout. Bhasi spent several months in a house nearby and was witness to the goings-on at the institution, which shaped the storyline.
The cells within the sanatorium are now in a dilapidated state. Built by the then Maharaja of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, in 1934, many of the buildings and the compound wall have collapsed, having slipped out of the government's radar.
According to N Kumaradas, a distant relative of Thoppil Bhasi who lives near the sanatorium, Bhasi hid in the house of Chamavila Kesava Pillai after police launched a search for the accused in the Sooranad police station attack.
"Many communist leaders lived in the sanatorium, which is spread over 155 acres. Our ancestral house 'Anakkathu' owned most of the land. At the time, it housed more than 1,800 inmates and it was like a small village with no links to the outside world. Only medical staff were allowed in and nobody had any idea of who the inmates were," says 70-year-old Kumaradas.
"My parents were employees of the sanatorium and I remember visiting the hospital administrative section many times as a child. However, the jail was located in a corner of the compound and it was separated by a huge wall. Many communist leaders from Tamil Nadu languished in jail. My parents told me that Thoppil Bhasi and other communist leaders kept in touch with them," recounts Kumaradas.
According to my father, Aswamedham was first staged in the sanatorium and inmates greeted it with applause, he says. "After the drama was filmed, Prem Nazir and many other actors reached the sanatorium and communicated with inmates. The film was also screened in the theatre within the compound."
Muthukrishnan, a native of Tiruchirappalli, who has been an inmate of the sanatorium for 46 years, remembers Nazir visiting the asylum. "Other visitors, including K J Yesudas and many film and theatre artists, urged us to interact with the public. State minister K R Gouri also reached out many times and asked us to emerge from the compound to educate the public about our pathetic state and remove the taboos associated with lepers. She was an inspiration," he says.
Around 85 inmates still live in houses in the facility, says Thamarakulam panchayat member R Rajith. "The majority of the buildings are in a dilapidated state. Lack of repair is destroying a piece of our history," she bemoans.