An initiative of the Chennai-based Wind Dancers Trust (India), Katradi has raised the cause of education since its inception in 2014. To be precise, says Sangeeta, they raise issues that have been ignored in traditional teaching. Easwaran, Founder of Katradi.

“we are confident Kalai Mulamma Kali Which means art through education. All our efforts are towards education of subjects which are not taught in school like child sexual abuse, reproductive health, gender and caste, and many more. “We work with women, children and a wide range of communities,” says Sangeeta.

She adds, “Environment is one of the domains within which we work. We are interested in conservation but from a community perspective in what ordinary people can do about it. We work with projects to bring awareness to a topic and/or find solutions from within the community on how to address it.”

Why wetlands?

Ssssh… listen! It was commissioned by the Bengaluru-based Student Conference for Conservation Science (SCCS) to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The play, put together by Sangeetha and Thilagavathi Palani, founder of Sri Krishna Kattaikoottu Khuzhu, highlights the need to protect the natural ecosystem.

According to Sangeeta, every year SCCS students organize a conference and this year their theme is Wetlands are not Wastelands. “When a lake or body of water starts drying up, it turns into a marshy area of ​​land. Since it is just a wetland and not a jungle with safari-worthy wildlife, no one has any respect for it. People throw garbage there, the water gets polluted and eventually, the area is filled to build flats.”

Ssssh… listen! Focuses on developing an understanding of the web of life and the destruction of nature. “We are part of nature, but we think of humans as separate from nature. “This is a big part of our problem,” says Sangeeta.

The protagonist in the play is some frogs living in a marshy land, while the villain is a JCB (a symbol of development or so-called progress). Yama, the god of truth and balance, also appears and gives the message that he is not the harbinger of death, as humans are sowing destruction all around and disturbing the balance of nature.

“It is a heavy drama in a sense, because the subject matter we are dealing with is not easy. Also, there is a lot of humor in it,” says Sangeeta.

all songs in this Ssssh… listen! are original creations based on traditional art forms such as kattaikuttu (rural theatre), oyilattam (folk dance), medai nadagam (stage drama), and Bharatanatyam.

Sangeetha (in black saree) and Thilagavathi Palani (seated in front) using Kattaikuttu and Bharatanatyam. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

whether Ssssh… listen! Created for SCCS, Sangeeta says, “We hope that once this display is finished, we can take it to schools as part of education outreach so that children can understand that nature is not far away. No – even a tree outside your house is a huge ecosystem in itself.”

about katradi

While Katradi is based in Chennai and their operations center is in Ranipet district, they work in areas including Manipur, France, Mexico and Ukrainian refugees, using art for education, empowerment and conflict resolution.

Sangeeta (centre left) with a community project in the Ranomafana Natural Park in Madagascar. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sangeeta explains in detail how kattaikuttu differs from therekkuttu Or street dancing. “It is a thousand-year-old discipline that requires extensive study with a minimum training period of five years, but it gets no respect because of its humble origins. Other folk forms like stranger They too have a wonderful oral and written history, but have been sidelined due to their lack of “classical” status.

Dances have an amazing range of motion and the ability to convey messages at a basic level, says Sangeeta. ,Opry Or elegy have become a tool of resistance and are sung to mourn the death of democracy, justice, or the state of existence. We perform in slums and during the pandemic, we visited more than 80 villages talking about vaccines and preventive measures. People were scared because of fake news, so we demonstrate using kattaikuttuTo help them understand them better.

Katradi believes in a diverse workforce. “Inclusion is not something you talk about and not practice. Our troupe is diverse in terms of gender, caste, community and economic status as well as abilities,” says Sangeeta, adding that her performance in Bengaluru on Monday will mark this. arangetram A quadriplegic man in a wheelchair, who will narrate the show in English.

She adds, “Songs and plays are a beautiful way to embed information in someone’s mind or heart, which is even more important.”

Ssssh… listen! It will be staged on October 21 between 6 to 7 pm at JN Tata Auditorium, IISc. Entry fee. For more information about Katradi, visit www.katradi.org