She went from being 'The Burqa Rapper' to social activist; plus 7 others who are inspiring change
Meet the people who are transforming Chennai with inspiring thought and hard work.
Defiance and Definition
SOFIA ASHRAF, 29
From Being known as 'The Burqa Rapper' in college to becoming an advocate of important social and environmental issues, Sofia Ashraf believes she's a writer first and rapper second. "It was only after activist and journalist Nityanand Jayaraman told me that I could use my words to put out a strong social message as well, that I started looking for issues that truly resonated with my values," says Ashraf.
This has probably fuelled Ashraf's intense and relentless activism against corporate giants and government projects that flout environmental laws and don't own up. She carries this out as part of 'Justice Rocks'--a rock movement much like "Woodstock, but with a message," in Ashraf's own words. Most recently, her work with Justice Rocks led her to make the now viral video Kodaikanal Won't and consecutively, made Hindustan Unilever compensate the former workers of its mercury factory in Kodaikanal, after its alleged mercury poisoning in the hill station.
To rebel with a cause: Ashraf's music, in many ways, best describes Chennai's generation which is at a cusp-one that fights tooth and nail for its traditional definitions to stay but also for new changes to grow into. She's now a writer, producer at director at Culture Machine's YouTube channel 'Blush', for which she is creating a series, Sista from the South. "It explores the identity of the modern woman and the gamut of experiences that are unique to her. It's the side that mainstream media hasn't seen; probably because a majority of its writers are men or from the North," says Ashraf, adding, "It's all of my life's experiences filtered through these videos."
Art Schooling
SRIRAM AYER, 40
"If you learn mathematics through movement, geometry through shapes and history through storytelling, chances are that you will remember them longer," believes Sriram Ayer, founder of the NalandaWay Foundation, an organisation that uses art as a means to initiate academic and therapeutic learning processes amongst children.
In an education system, where art usually plays an ancillary role in knowledge building, Ayer's decade-long crusade has been to make it the primary source. However, he faces a responsibility far more challenging than what most mainstream learning modules face today; every child in his camp comes from "severely disadvantaged backgrounds".
Making it a way of Life: NalandaWay's work falls under three verticals- art in education, which looks at facilitating early childhood learning through art; art labs, which teaches arts through a structured training programme for kids who display extraordinary talent; and art for healing, which uses art as a catalyst for behavioural change for adolescents with issues of trauma and depression.
A storyteller: Besides being an educationist, Ayer is also an avid writer. His first novel, The Story of a Suicide recently released in a striking, free-for-all online edition preceded by a hauntingly engaging trailer-possibly the first-of-its-kind for a book.
Paws for a cause
SHRAVAN KRISHNAN, 25
Shravan Krishnan's face appeared like warm sunlight on a winter day during the week Chennai was exposed to a series of attacks on animals-filmed and published on social media for everyone to see and stomach their repugnance. He became the poster boy of hope, holding Bhadra-the pup that was flung off a terrace by a medical intern- close to his heart, assuring us she will survive.
An act of kindness: Krishnan's purpose to provide dignity of life for animals was sowed in when he was just a child. "I grew up in a family that respected animals, and believed in coexisting with them every day," he says. In fact, he pursues his passion like a science; a natural way of life to coexist with even the most unusual reptiles with varying levels of venomousness. "During my volunteering days with The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust & Centre for Herpetology, I would handle and feed snakes, when most visitors would be afraid or repulsed by them," says Krishnan.A significant part of his work today is to familiarise people with snakes and teach them how to handle situations where they may come across the creatures within their living and working spaces, instead of recklessly killing them.
Creature comforts: Besides rescue operations, Krishnan also runs a shelter for strays and the country's first Hotel for Dogs--complete with state-of-the-art facilities, in Chennai and Bangalore. "The point is, when you go on a vacation, your dog should get one too. Dogs need a lot of space to run around, move and swim. Our hotels are complete with swimming pools, soundproofed kennels, grooming parlours and 24-hour CCTV surveillance," says Krishnan.
Gen Next activist
ARUN KRISHNAMURTHY, 30
"Several citizens care about the environment and are genuinely worried about it. They wish to be the mobilisers of change, but do not have the right platform to proceed. I was one such clueless citizen," says Chennai's eco warrior Arun Krishnamurthy. This of course, was the case until he got together a bunch of like-minded individuals and started the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI), in 2006. Since then, EFI's main objective has been to work on the field in real timeresult oriented conservation projects. "It's always the cause that is our hero, and not the individuals behind it," believes Krishnamurthy.
Acing the green game: A prime area of focus for Krishnamurthy and his team has been the restoration and conservation of water bodies in the city. They have cleaned close to 39 lakes and 21 ponds in the country so far. Besides water body conservation, EFI also works on Anipal, their stray animal care programme, Forestree, a suburban/rural afforestation programme and Green Gramam, their holistic village development programme.
Changing outlook: When disaster struck in the form of torrential rains and floods last year, Krishnamurthy and his team were at the forefront of rescue operations and helped close to 1,000 families through strategic programmes. "We expected massive change in public thought towards freshwater bodies post the floods, but, it hasn't happened to the extent we expected it to. However, there is definitely potential for community-based conservation work and all it needs is time."
Us against them
KIRTHI JEYAKUMAR, 27
Kirthi Jeyakumar is one of the most pacific lawyers you may come across in the city. She's soft-spoken, talks with benevolence and waxes eloquent on transformation. But then, she's also a catalyst of peace. After a degree in international law at the School of Excellence in Law, Chennai, Jeyakumar volunteered for over five years with the UN and missed her chance to go to Oxford "by a whisker.""But fate took me to the University of Peace in Costa Rica, which is a UN mandated university," she says.
Ambassador of peace: In the last seven years, Jeyakumar has gone to Libya as part of a deployment that associated itself with the Arab Spring; worked as an intern writer for an assignment based in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and most recently, got invited to be part of Michelle Obama's conference, United State of Women in Washington DC, in which she participated virtually. "As a child, my dream was to work with survivors of war in any capacity,and possibly be able to stop war," she says. Jeyakumar started The Red Elephant Foundation three years ago, to work on storytelling, civilian peace-building and activism.
She works with children to sensitise them on gender equality and deems this vertical to be her most crucial. "If my workshop with children is to make them critically evaluate the messages they receive about body image, gender equality and homosexuality, I try to tell them that they can't judge men and women on their sexuality or look at them as two defined blocks," she says. Jeyakumar wants every NGO in the country to realise someday that they don't have any more work left to do because so much has changed. Until then, she hopes to have trained at least 5,000 children in the next five years.
Talk of Town
RJ BALAJI, 30
"In my house, there was a 'talk less and do more' ' rule. My grandfather cooked us our meals till he was 93, and together we planted over 60 saplings around our house," says RJ Balaji, the radio jockey who has now become a household name and enjoys a massive fan following in the city.
This sense of 'deed over word' has probably dictated most of Balaji's life decisions- the most recent being Chennai Micro-a movement he started with actor Siddharth and a few others, immediately following the floods that shook up the city last year. "My friends and I started transporting people who were stuck on roads into their homes. But when we saw how disastrous the situation actually was, and that our rescue operations had to keep pace with it, we decided to launch Chennai Micro, an online movement with the aim to make the process smoother and more effective," he says.
People's movement: It has been seven months, but Chennai Micro's work is far from over, says Balaji. Relief and rehabilitation continue in Cuddalore and the villages neighbouring Neyveli, "but that's not the point," he says. "Chennai Micro is about instilling a sense of ownership. If some boys in your neighbourhood are coming together to stop felling of trees, they're essentially a Chennai Micro in the making." RJ Balaji is now working on Mani Ratnam's next film, which is due for release next year.
On a talent hunt
MADHAN KARKY, 36
When the restrictions of 'catering' to a mainstream music industry became more imposing than the joy of creating for it, lyricist Madhan Karky decided that there had to be a space where unrestrained independent music could be created. He declined "close to 50 projects", in a little over a year, busy setting up this dream project with his friend Kauntheya, and called it 'Doopaadoo'.
Being in sync: Doopaadoo is essentially a song bank, a portal where aspiring and established musicians can send their original, non-film music, which will then be shortlisted in a blind review by an expert panel and finally uploaded on to the website. Your music is up to be heard by anyone from around the world, and for every new listener you get, you get paid. "When we looked at what was working for independent music in the west that wasn't working in India, a major problem that surfaced was piracy. Funnily enough, a music video that earned 10,000 views on YouTube, would still not be bought by less than half that number on say, an iTunes. We realised then that both the musician and the listener needed to be informed," says Karky. He has also roped in celebrated names such as AR Rahman, Chinmayi and Santosh Narayanan to put up their own independent work on the portal.
"In the past few months, we've made five and a half lakh streams. We've lined up 200 songs for 200 days and every evening at 6 p.m., we launch a new song," says Karky, who soon plans to bring his Doopaadoo musicians together for an online project from wherever they are, through which they can be talent-hunted by producers. All this of course, while he's busy penning for Mani Ratnam, Shankar and SS Rajamouli's next films.
Hues of Change
C MOULEE
Back in the 1990's, when he was just a teenager, C Moulee, now an LGBT rights activist, found his support mechanism between the pages of those few teen magazines that ran counselling columns and a handful of articles on queer issues. "I was 14 when I came across the term 'gay' in a now defunct teen magazine's cover story about homosexuality. It was in a positive light and gave me immense comfort. I knew I wasn't alone then," says Moulee.
Indomitable spirit: In 2015, Moulee set up the first pride Employee Resource Group (ERG) in the Asia-Pacific for Symantec, a multi-national technology company, and instantly became a star for the LGBT community in the country. "During the brief time that homosexuality was legal in India, some companies sponsored LGBT ERGs. But with re-criminalisation, they stopped, and I realised that starting an ERG would have to come from employees - like me," says Moulee. The ERG has 12 people today, including some allies who don't identify as LGBT, and is spread among Symantec offices in Chennai and Pune.
"Unofficially, there are a few others who want to be involved but don't want to be on the public distribution list. Despite the progress we've made, the feeling of inclusion takes time and is hard work," says Moulee. "My aim is to bring about more awareness about LGBT people among our employees. I think ignorance is one of the reasons why queer individuals are ignored and harassed. To make the workplace more sensitive towards queer issues and people; this is at the top of my mind," he adds.