https://csim.in/conversations/Conversations-April2012.pdf

An hour’s drive from Chennai, far from the hustle and bustle of a metro, lies Punjarasantankal. A village difficult to pronounce, Punjarasantankal sits eight kilometers from the town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. 

Winding through the narrow roads, we reached Kattaikuttu Gurukulam. Kattaikkuttu is a form of rural theatre in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. 

The Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam or Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School was established in 2002 by Rajagopal and Dr. Hanne M. de Bruin with the objective of training a new generation of Kattaikkuttu performers. The Gurukulam is the first residential theatre school where young people can learn the art without having to give up their formal education. The school enables students to combine comprehensive education with training as professional Kattaikkuttu actors or musicians.

Sivaranjini, 8, and Eesvari Devi, 10, welcomed us at the entrance with sandalwood paste, flowers, and sugar candy and led us to the hall which doubles as stage. The special visitor today, Mr. Bob Hiensch, Netherlands Ambassador, was already seated. Dr. Hanne, a Dutch lady who settled in India in 1990, greeted and introduced us to her spouse Rajagopal, a Kattaikkuttu actor, teacher, playwright and director. Dr. Hanne was strikingly tall and attired an olive green saree. She was at ease conversing in Tamil with the children and the audience. 

Dr. Hanne has a Ph.D. in Kattaikkuttu and is the author of numerous books and articles on (marginalized) Indian art forms, such as Kattaikkuttu, She settled in Kanchipuram in 1990 and supports Rajagopal in managing the theatre school. The school is run under the auspices of the Kattaikkuttu Sangam, an association run for and by professional Kattaikkuttu performers.

I felt at home instantly and seated myself near the stage while my friend AK set off with his camera to capture interesting scenes both before and behind the curtain. 

Over 20 children, aged between 5 and 18, sat on the floor in neat rows and about12 children waited in the green room. The make-up artists (senior students and apprentices) spent over an hour on performers to transform them into a demon, monkey, sanyasi, joker, or alien. The musicians tuned their instruments while the performers arrived backstage with their props. 

Dr. Hanne gave a pithy introduction about Kattaikuttu to the audience: “Most traditional Kattaikkuttu performances are based on selected episodes from the epic Mahabharata adapted to the local situation. Plays feature universal emotions and dilemmas of valor, jealousy, hatred, love, grief and despair, loyalty to one’s family and friends, and folly. The play you are about to see, however, is written for children. On the request of his youngest students, Rajagopal (the author) incorporated special characters—a monkey and a doctor—in this contemporary children’s play.” 

After a moment of silence, the show began.

Rajagopal sang at high pitch and set the tone for the show. Musicians Rangasamy, Velusamy, and Loganathan took their turn to beat the drums, play the mukavinai and harmonium. 

Selvarasu, 11, made a dramatic entry from behind a veil and captured the audience with his shrill voice and stomping feet. He was playing the role of Maha Bhoodham, demon, the centre piece of this act. The rest of the characters — monkey, alien, and children — joined him. After making a swift circle, a traditional custom while making an entry on stage, they enacted a story about two children and a monkey who approach the demon to save the aliens who have landed on earth by accident. The children request the demon to use his magical powers and send the aliens back to the planet where they have come from. 

When the demon (Selvarasu) banged his sword on the bench, I startled. At first, it was difficult for me to decipher the dialogues, but as time passed by I comprehended the story. 

The audience broke into a loud applause when Selvarasu said: “Why do we need aliens on earth when we have enough people here already?” 

After the first play ended, Doraisamy, 19, and Murthy, 18, entertained the audience with their slapstick comedy. Their clown make-up and spontaneous reactions made the audience double up with laughter. 

Dr. Hanne then stepped onto the stage and narrated a synopsis of the next play that was to be staged—‘Subhadra’s wedding’—which was enacted by Jothi (Balaraman), Mahalakshmi (Krishna) and Tamilarasi (Arjuna).

Awe-struck by their performance, we wondered how much time these children would have spent to learn this art. Dr. Hanne led us to the library and classrooms on the seven-acre campus. Apart from books, the library had simple lab equipment. “Most of the children hail from the villages in the four northern districts of Tamil Nadu. The parents of some of these children are also Kattaikkuttu performers. Children are taught Kattaikkuttu for only three hours in a day. The rest of the time they learn academics and can opt to learn a musical instrument. After eight years, and going through a junior and a senior phase and performing in the school’s professional repertory company, the children graduate. Selected graduates can work in the Gurukulam as apprentices and become assistant trainers in the school, in addition to learning financial and management skills. We have seven apprentices in our campus now,” said Dr. Hanne. 

Apprentices Doraisamy and Murthy were walking towards the green room to remove their make-up when I stopped them for a chat. Murthy was spontaneous, Doraisamy was shy. “My father is a Kattaikuttu performer. I was interested to learn this art, so I joined Kattaikkuttu Sangam when I was 9. I now work as an apprentice and earn Rs. 3500 per month. I am also a member of the Kattaikkuttu Young Professionals Company. For each all-night show of the company we get paid an additional Rs. 300. Last year, the Company did 40 all-night shows in villages. I am also pursuing my graduation in commerce through correspondence. I love this art and will continue to perform even after I complete my one-year tenure here,” said Murthy. 

Doraisamy too said he’d like to continue performing Kattaikkuttu even after his apprenticeship. His dream is to head the ‘comedy department’, which he envisages the school will need to have ten years from now.

Rajagopal, who was quietly observing our conversation remarked, “Till date, over 18 children have been trained in this art and are professional performers. We have bookings from neighbouring villages to perform during festivals and special occasions. The money earned from these performances is shared with the children and is remitted into their savings account. I want my children to perform in cities and towns as well. This art has a lot of value and needs appreciation and visibility.”

It was interesting to watch the children remove their make-up. They first dampened their faces with coconut oil, and then used a cloth to remove the make-up. While every child was capable of doing this task, younger children were assisted by their older mates. This was one extended family. 

A delectable south Indian meal was served, and we feasted. 

We meandered around the sparkling clean premises, no one stopped us. The rooms where the boys and girls resided had shelves that were neatly arranged with clothes and beddings. There were also guest houses that can accommodate 25 people. 

“With 51 children in the campus, how is it possible to maintain it so clean?” I asked Sundaralakshmi, the head of education, who also oversees the kitchen. She smiled and replied: “All our children are disciplined. Our volunteers educate them on health and hygiene practices at the start itself.” 

We met Puck, Rebecca, and Alex who were at the Kattaikkuttu Sangam on three to six-months internships. While Puck and Rebecca are students of nursing from Holland, Alex is a voice trainer from Greece. Kattaikkuttu encourages volunteers to serve as interns. The school would love to have volunteer English teacher from India, too, but so far no candidates have come forth. 

We heard sounds of musical instruments, and while we wondered if there was yet another performance, we were told that the children were practicing. 

Dr. Hanne and I went to the room where the girls were rehearsing. Thilagavathy, 22, an apprentice, was training the younger children in dance. It was a treat to one’s eye to see little children emote mythological characters. Sivaranjani, the youngest of all, was shy to perform in my presence. We slowly exited, allowing them to practice at ease.

“Kattaikkuttu Sangam is a university in itself. Children feel this to be their second home. They are away from their family tensions and more importantly free from poverty and malnutrition. They are provided food, clothing, and shelter, besides education and training in Kattaikkuttu. We have these children because of their talents—each of them is special—and not because they are from disadvantaged backgrounds. We treat all of them equal; boys and girls learn exactly and do the same chorus: in this once all-male theatre tradition, girls perform male roles, while boys learn here to sweep and cook.” 

“All of them are like our children. They address me as Paati meaning grandmother and Rajagopal as Thaatha meaning grandfather. Parents and guardians of the children visit during weekends. They are happy to see their children grow in a healthy environment,” concluded Dr. Hanne.

Children return to their family once they finish their school education after 12th standard. A few children who have completed eight years of training in Kattaikuttu opt to serve as apprentices here. 

It was time for us to leave, and while approaching our car we noticed children playing in a clay ditch. With muddy hands, they showed us a crab and few shrimps they had found. And at one little request, they gave us an exclusive impromptu performance of a monkey dance.

If all the world’s a stage, as Shakespeare said, this was going to be our favourite one. Encore!