A “Kaigal” on manual scavenging

In 2015, I had an opportunity to meet Bezwada Wilson for the first time. Since then, I have met him many times and have even conducted an in-depth interview with him, which will be published as a book soon. It is only after meeting him that I was able to understand the life of manual scavengers. We may think that the days of manual scavenging are in the past, but that is not true. Wilson, as a person involved in this cause, provided us statistics of where and how many people are still involved in this practice. It was shocking to me, and I have been thinking about these people since then.

Later, when I met TM Krishna, he suggested that I write a song about manual scavengers. While I had many ideas, it was difficult for me to express those in words. I pondered over it for over a year, wondering what should make the central theme of the song. I wanted the song to talk about the lives of the manual scavengers and raise many questions. These people were scavenging with their hands. So, I wanted to make their hands central to the song. It has has been performed many times by TM Krishna and is well known today.

— Perumal Murugan

Pallavi

Should fetid faeces (shit) be picked by hands?
Should fetid faeces be picked by human hands?
What eternal suffering! Do we care?
Is this civil? Is this fair?
This society, is this civil? Is this fair?
Are we even human beings?

Anupallavi

These are hands that are meant to plough
To eat the food, that they produce and grow
By hugging, mercy, they will show
Hands are gifts from God, we pray and bow

Charanam

To lose one’s life in putrid cesspools
To live in sewers, cleaning stools
To pick up all the refuse and litter
To clean everything and make it better
Do we need a human hand?
Why would that be the right stand?


Also ReadPerumal Murugan’s “Koel Song”


Would we not be spat at?
Spat at by the entire world.
Spat at, spat at, spat at, spat at
Spat at by the graceful world

A cow mania has been set in motion in…

In the second part of the Indian Writers Forum conversation with Githa Hariharan, eminent writer Nayantara Sahgal talks about the intolerance of Hindutva forces towards the minorities, the connection between the Hindu Mahasabha (the RSS’s ancestor) and the European fascist dictatorships, and how, for writers, there’s no avoiding the political.

In today’s India, a kind of cow mania has been set in motion by the ruling party, where gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) are supposed to protect the holiness of the cow. The Dalits recently rose up in a big uprising, saying “If the cow is your mother, you look after her. We will not lift cow carcasses any more.” This would have delighted the hearts of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar.

Bezwada Wilson on Eradicating Manual Scavenging

Bezwada Wilson on eradicating manual scavenging

This is a talk organised at Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) in collaboration with Indian Writers Forum (IWF) on ‘Eradicating Manual Scavenging: Join the Struggle’. Bezwada Wilson talks about the need to eradicate manual scavenging, the reasons given by the government for implementing demonetisation, its impact on the poor of the country and the lack of political will when it comes to eradicating untouchability and manual scavenging.

 


 

Bezwada Wilson & TM Krishna in conversation with Nilanjana Roy

Bezwada Wilson & TM Krishna in conversation with Nilanjana…

This conversation with Bezwada Wilson and TM Krishna was part of the Indus Conversations series by Tulika Books, 11 December 2016. TM Krishna, a carnatic music vocalist and social commentator, and Bezwada Wilson, National Convenor of the Safai Karamchari Andolan, are recipients of the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Awards. TM Krishna was honoured for his work toward “social inclusiveness in culture”, and his sustained efforts to bring music and arts to the marginalised sections of society, particularly in the underdeveloped rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Bezwada Wilson has spent his life campaigning against manual scavenging. He founded the community based  Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) to fight for the eradication of manual scavenging.
The conversation of the two awardees with writer Nilanjana Roy probes a range of issues from the meaning of liberty and equality, and nationalism and freedom, to the experience of caste based discrimination, and the role of art in changing our perpectives of the world.