CHENNAI: A carnatic music video called Chennai Poromboke Paadal was launched this weekend by writer Perumal Murugan. As amusing and unusual it sounds, the issue it targets is grave and requires dire attention. The video starts with the meaning of the word Poromboke: One, places reserved for shared communal uses and two, a pejorative intended to demean or devalue a person or place. The word today has changed from the first to the second abusive context that every Chennaiite is familiar with.
Before getting into it, let’s talk about the song that got over 27,387 views until yesterday evening on YouTube. It’s safe to say that it’s the first time a carnatic song is being sung in Chennai dialect with the word that can arouse a lot of questions by the ignorant. Renowned carnatic singer TM Krishna who sang the song penned by Kaber Vasuki says, “I always wonder why many people don’t listen to carnatic music. Well, some might say it’s because they only centre around gods and religion. Maybe.” But, can we sing about nature, lakes and other concepts? Sure. “Someone asked me, can you sing in Chennai dialect? Of course! I started thinking. It was an artistic question too. Will the dialect and the carnatic ragas sync together? Luckily, around that time Nityanand Jayaram gave me this opportunity.”
The song, effortlessly fluid and understandable across classes, held its charm. Carnatic listeners may be shocked by the use of the word Poromboke and the dialect used. But once they understand it’s depth, things might change. In the video, Krishna and other musicians perform in the environment crime scene — Ennore in the background with its industrial smoke and garbage dump crying for attention. “I was born and brought up here but many like me don’t regard areas after Parry’s Corner as part of Chennai. Only through a trip to Ennore did I understand the problems they faced, and the culture that existed there. It was devastating,” adds Krishna.
Did you know that the electricity, petrol, among many other things come from Ennore? They are a major reason for our comfortable life but we forget about the people living there. Talking about the forgotten, ignored land Nityanand Jayaram says, “Since 30 years now Ennore has had a ‘vaastu problem’. It is being discarded by those from South Chennai. There are six villages here and all of them here are fisherman.” He introduced a member of the Kadal Meenavar Cooperative Union R L Srinivasan who talked for his community and the problems they face. “Ennore has four powerplants and now our place has become a dump yard for them. The chemicals mix with water and soil. Fish consume them and in turn we do too and suffer from skin diseases. Children are born with problems.”
Their place is in desperate need of a clean-up but who will listen? The divide between North and South Chennai continues. The fishermen don’t know how to go about the issue. “Only a year back did we know that there is something called Pollution Control Board (PCB). The government has not been helpful either,”
he rues.
Not just Ennore, stretching from Pulicat in the North to Manali marshlands to the South, Chennai’s largest surviving wetland complex drains the Araniyar and Kosasthalaiyar. CMDA has earmarked more than 2000 acres of wetlands for setting up hazardous chemical industries. “We have lost hope in the authorities; and are approaching the NGT. The same TANGEDCO that is dumping flyash into the river every day is now cutting down its greenbelt and constructing a new powerplant without license from CMDA or TNPCB,” says Selvarajan of Kaattukuppam.
The video ends with a request to viewers to sign a petition to the National Green Tribunal asking it to take action. “At a time when Tamil culture is the subject of national debate, it is worth remembering that protecting the Poromboke commons is also revered Tamil tradition,” says Nityanand. Poromboke is a public space, the property of the entire community. It’s time to rip apart the swear word and bring the real problem in focus or the time will soon come when we actually become Porombokes. As the song goes, ‘…growth, job, opportunities; these are just lame excuses for the one who sold the waterbodies, the lake is mere poromboke; you and I then, what are we to him? We are poromboke too. How about you?’
(Check out the video, Chennai Poromboke Paadal ft. TM Krishna on YouTube or visit
www.storyofennore.wordpress.com)