Weekly Note 27 | கற்றது தமிழ், shivajinagar, alternative glossary of climate terms

I watched Kattradhu Tamil, a film by director Ram. The last film of his I watched somehow troubled me less, for it had a unserious thread between the others that was being woven. Taramani but by no lesser means was equally troubling (It missed my then week’s note for some reason), and I am unable to place why women appear to be the intersectional victims of his commentary on globalisation, gentrification, and capitalism that appear in both films.

I wonder what childhood memory I carry at all for me to remember in the hands of a person, like Ananthi appears to be for Prabhakaran. There is so much tragedy in Kattradhu Tamil, tragedy that numbs people, tragedy that makes people go crazy. I do not know if it is a tragedy that Ananthi and the Tamil Vaathiyar were the only love that he has had, so much that Prabhakaran goes in search of Ananthi to Savergaon (unclear if this is a real village), Sangamner, close to Pune. Or, I do not if it is more a tragedy to not have a someone to go in search of. Atleast in the end, Ananthi and Prabhakaran both found each other to go in search of Tony together…

I wonder what the circumstances of the family were in Acchankovil for them to migrate all the way to a remote village in Maharashtra. Was this informed by a real account? I also wonder what schools were like in summer holidays then. For the tamil teacher to have stayed for just one student… and for a relationship to have been like that… No such relationship could exist now I think…but maybe, I hope that they do.

We came across cows. Not uncommon. Very common in Yelahanka actually, there are enough temples, restaurants and garbage dumping spots that you find them in. There are no wild cows, all cows on the streets are intentionally left to roam around to beg or scrounge from trash spots. This particular cow, if you notice closely has a bent spine, many are pregnant, and find themselves unable to walk. But this one’s bent spine was particularly worrying. They are forcefully impregnant multiple times, enabled by the cool steel technology of our industrialised existance. From genes, to their children, we play god.

We co-planned and co-hosted a one day network convening in the format of a workshop and panel along with Aapti Institute. It has been a wonderful learning experience, in learning to talk to people, in learning to trust in people and processes that derive from personal and collective values. One of the working groups, focussing on a case made from the work of Land Conflict Watch, Landstack and the Climate Resource Center looked at making an alternate glossary of synonyms and anecodotes for climate terms and phenomena…Crucially, I understood the value of time and strong facilitation plans.

The event was at Sabha, Shivajinagar. The door towards Kamaraj road is always closed, I wonder if they ever open it. Sabha was a school previously, the Chaturveda Siddhanta Sabha, run by the RBANM Educational Charity - Rai Bahadur Arcot Narrainswamy Mudaliyar. Rai Bhadur struck me very oddly before a Mudaliyar name, learnt that it was a bestowed title! And that he was from Senjee (Why has the TN government not renamed Gingee to Sengee as it is pronounced in Tamil yet?)