Katradi shines the spotlight on social issues using the arts

Katradi, an initiative of Wind Dancers Trust (India), based out of Chennai, have taken up the cause of education ever since their inception in 2014. To be precise, they take up those causes that have been overlooked in conventional teaching, says Sangeeta Isvaran, founder of Katradi.

“We believe in kalai mulamma kali which means art through education. All our efforts are towards education in topics that don’t get taught in school such as child sex abuse, reproductive health, gender and caste, and much more. We work with women, children and a wide range of communities,” says Sangeeta.

She adds, “The environment is one of the verticals we work under. Our interest lies in conservation but from a community’s perspective on what ordinary people can do about it. We work with projects to bring awareness on a topic and / or find solutions from within the community on how to address it.”

Why wetlands

Shhh… Listen! was commissioned by Bengaluru-based Student Conference for Conservation Science (SCCS), to commemorate their 15th anniversary. Put together by Sangeeta and Thilagavathi Palani, founder of Sri Krishna Kattaikkuttu Khuzu, the play shines the spotlight on the need to protect natural ecosystems.

Kattaikkuttu performance by Katradi
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

According to Sangeeta, every year the students of SCCS hold a conference and their theme this year is Wetlands Aren’t Wastelands. “When a lake or body of water starts drying up, it turns into a marshy patch of land. Since it is just a wetland and not a forest with safari-worthy wildlife, nobody has any respect for it. People throw rubbish there, the water gets polluted and eventually, the area is filled up to build flats.”

Shhh… Listen! centres around developing an understanding of the web of life and of the destruction of nature. “We are part of nature, but we tend to think of humans as apart from nature. That is a huge part of our problem,” says Sangeeta.

The protagonists in the play are a couple of frogs living in a marshland, while the villain is a JCB (symbolising development or so-called progress). Yama, the god of truth and balance, also makes an appearance bringing the message on how he is not the harbinger of death, since humans are seeding destruction all around and upsetting the balance of Nature.

“It is a heavy play in one sense, because the topic we’re dealing with is not an easy one. At the same time, there is a lot of humour as well,” says Sangeeta.

All the songs in Shhh… Listen! are original compositions set to traditional art forms such as kattaikkuttu (rural theatre), oyilattam (folk dance), medai nadagam (stage plays), and Bharatanatyam.

Sangeeta (in black sari) and Thilagavathi Palani (seated in front) at performance using Kattaikkuttu and Bharatanatyam
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Even though Shhh… Listen! was created for SCCS, Sangeeta says, “We hope once this performance is over, we can take it to schools as part of an education outreach for children to understand that nature is not far away — even a tree outside your house is a huge ecosystem in itself.”

About Katradi

While Katradi is based out of Chennai and their centre of operations is in Ranipet district, they work in areas including Manipur, France, Mexico and with Ukranian refugees, using the arts for education, empowerment and conflict resolution.

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

Sangeeta elabororates how kattaikkuttu differs from therekkuttu or street dance. “It is a-thousand-year-old form which, requires extensive study with a minimum five-year training period, but due to its humble origins it garners zero respect. Other folk forms such as parai too, have an amazing oral and written history, but have been sidelined due to a lack of “classical” status.”

The dances, Sangeeta says, have an amazing range of movement and ability to communicate messages at a basic level. “Oppari or dirges have become a tool of resistance and are sung to lament the death of democracy, justice or a state of being. We perform in slums and during the pandemic, we visited more than 80 villages talking about the vaccines and preventive measures. People were scared because of the fake news, so we create performances using kattaikkuttu, to help them understand better.”

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

“Songs and drama are a beautiful way of making information stick in someone’s mind or heart, which is even more important,” she adds.

Shhh… Listen! will be staged at JN Tata Auditorium, IISc, on October 21 between 6 and 7pm. Entry free. For more information on Katradi, visit www.katradi.org