Kerala Folk Arts

Swadeque EK

Introduction
Folk arts are the pulses of our nation. We have various folk arts across the country related with the religion, cast and culture. Folk arts depict values, history and morals of a particular community. Folk dance is a form of dance developed by a group of people that reflects the traditional life of the people of a certain country or region. Folk dancing usually involves a group of happy people following dance instructions from an experienced caller. The dancers perform steps in certain formations, such as a circle or a straight line. There are many folk arts and dances across our country. In Kerala, we have various folk arts. This essay will focus on five major folk arts style of Kerala.
Theyyam
Theyyam is a popular Hindu ritual form of worship of North Malabar in Kerala, India, predominant in the Kolathunadu area (consisting of present-day Kasargod, Kannur Districts, Mananthavady Taluk of Wayanad and Vadakara and Koyilandy Taluks of Kozhikode of Kerala. As a living cult with several thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs, it embraces almost all the castes and classes of the Hindu religion in this region. The performers of Theyyam belong to the lower class community, and have an important position in Theyyam. This is unique, since only in Kerala, do both the upper-caste Brahmins and lower-caste tribals share an important position in a major form of worship.
The dance or invocation is generally performed in front of the village Shrine. It is also performed in the houses as ancestor-worship with elaborate rites and rituals. There is no stage or curtain or other such arrangements for the performance. The devotees would be standing or some of them would be sitting on a sacred tree in front of the shrine. In short, it is an open theatre. A performance of a particular deity according to its significance and hierarchy in the shrine continues for 12 to 24 hours with intervals. The chief dancer who propitiates the central deity of the shrine has to reside in the rituals. This may be due to the influence of Jainism and Buddhism. Further, after the sun sets, this particular dancer would not eat anything for the remainder of that day (again possibly on account of a legacy of Jainism). His make-up is done by specialists and other dancers. The first part of the performance is usually known as Vellattam or Thottam. It is performed without proper make-up or any decorative costume. Only a small, red headdress is worn on this occasion. The dancer along with the drummers recites the particular ritual song, which describes the myths and legends, of the deity of the shrine or the folk deity to be propitiated. This is accompanied by the playing of folk musical instruments. After finishing this primary ritualistic part of the invocation, the dancer returns to the green room. Again after a short interval he appears with proper make-up and costumes. There are different patterns of face painting. Some of these patterns are called vairadelam, kattaram, kozhipuspam, kotumpurikam, and prakkezhuthu. Mostly primary and secondary colours are applied with contrast for face painting. It helps in effecting certain stylization in the dances. Then the dancer comes in front of the shrine and gradually “metamorphoses” into the particular deity of the shrine. He, after observation of certain rituals places the head-dress on his head and starts dancing. In the background, folk musical instruments like chenda, tuti, kuzhal and veekni are played in a certain rhythm. All the dancers take a shield and kadthala (sword) in their hands as continuation of the cult of weapons. Then the dancer circumambulates the shrine, runs in the courtyard and continues dancing there. The Theyyam dance has different steps known as Kalaasams. Each Kalaasam is repeated systematically from the first to the eighth step of footwork. A performance is a combination of playing of musical instruments, vocal recitations, dance, and peculiar makeup and costumes. The stage-practices of Theyyam and its ritualistic observations make it one of the most fascinating theatrical arts of India.
Oppana
Oppana is a popular form of social entertainment among the Mappila community of Kerala, south India, The Malayalam word Oppana Pattu is the derivation of Tamil word 'Oppanai Pattu'. In Tmail 'Oppanai' means make up. Now Oppana has been extinct in Tamil Nadu. But in Kerala this art form has been revived with much popularity in performing stages of Youth Festivals of student community. Oppana is generally presented by females, numbering about fifteen including musicians, on a wedding day. Sometime Oppana is also presented by males to entertain the bridegroom. It usually takes place just before the bridegroom leaves for the bride's residence where the Nikah (marriage) takes place or at the time he enters the Maniyar. Harmonium, Tabla, Ganjira and Elathaalam are the musical instruments employed for this performance. Only the Mappilapaattu will be sung on the occasion.

Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam is a highly colorful Latin Christian classical art form originated in Cochin , Kerala state in India. It is noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the rhythmic playback music and complementary percussion. This art form highly resembles European Opera. Chavittu Nadakam is believed to be originated during the 16th century AD. This form of play is prevalent among the Latin Christian community in the districts of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur of Kerala. This cultural heritage had been vanished out due to the lack of responsible patronage. Chavittu Nadakam is usually performed on open stages. Sometimes the interior of a church is also a venue. The master is known as Annavi. Dance and instrumental music are combined in this art form. The actor themselves sing and act. The language is Malayalam with some mix of Tamil.
Margam Kali

Margam Kali is one of the ancient group dance of Kerala practiced by Saint Thomas Christians. The dance form was practiced by the Saint Thomas Christians before the arrival of Portuguese missionaries in Kerala. There are several different opinions on the origin of Margamkali. Three are: 1. It is traced back to Jewish wedding songs and dance from the diaspora. Scholars have found common origin among Malabar Jewish dance and songs and the Saint Thomas Christian dance form of Margam Kali.
2. It is derived from Sangam kali, a performance dance form of Brahmins.
3. It is derived from the Yathra Kali, a performance art of Nambuthiri Brahmins in Kerala.
4. It is derived from the early forms of Thiruvathira kali
"Margam" means path or way or solution in Malayalam, but in the religious context it is known as the path to attain salvation. The process of conversion to Christianity was known as "Margam Koodal" until recently in Kerala.Much of this folk art is woven around the mission of St. Thomas, the Apostle. The original Margam Kali describes the arrival of St. Thomas in Malabar, the miracles he performed, the friendship as well as the hostility of the people among whom he worked, the persecution he suffered, the churches and crosses he put up in  various places, etc. These details are incorporated in the various stanzas of the Margam Kali songs. Kerala’s Margam Kali is an important element in the age-old and hallowed tradition of St Thomas among the Syrian Christians of Malabar Coast.
A dozen dancers sing and dance clapping around a Nilavilakku wearing the traditional white dhoti ("mundu") and blouse ("chatta"). The lamp represents Christ and the performers his disciples. The performance is usually held in two parts ("padham") and begins with songs and dances narrating the life of St.Thomas, the apostle. It then takes a striking turn with a martial play of artificial swords and shields. Margamkali does not use any instruments other than two small palm size cymbals played by the same person who sings the song. In the early days only men performed Margam Kali. Today women also perform the custom.
Thiruvathira
Thiruvathira Thiruvathira is a Hindu festival celebrated in the southern Indian state of Kerala on the full moon day of the month of Dhanu (mid-December to mid-January) or Margazhi [ Margali ]. Ardradarshan celebrated in Tamilnadu corresponds to Thiruvathira of Kerala since both are related to lord shiva. The festival commemorates the death of Kamadeva, the Hindu god of love. It is believed that on this day, the Goddess Parvathi finally met Lord Siva after her long penance.
This festival is also called the festival of women, because women will fast on this day to get good husbands. Thiruvathirakali is a dance form performed by women on the day of Thiruvathira. In Tamil Nadu, the married women will fast during the day time. They will take food before sun raise and start their fasting. They will break the fast after witnessing the moon raise. The Thiruvathirai Kali in Tamil Nadu is a type of food prepared on Tiruvathirai day The sinuous movements executed by a group of dancers around a nilavilakku, embody 'lasya' or the amorous charm and grace of the feminine. The dance follows a circular, pirouetting pattern accompanied by clapping of the hands and singing. Today, Thiruvathirakali has become a popular dance form for all seasons.



Duff Muttu

The Duff Muttu or the Dubh Muttu, or the Duff Kali is a folk entertainment item popular among the Muslims of the Malabar region in Kerala, performed to commemorate their festivals, nuptial ceremonies or Urooses (festivals and occasions connected with Mosques) and also for social entertainment. The art form is also known as Rebana.

The interesting art form of Duff Muttu is named after the instrument used in the performance called Duff. It is a musical percussion instrument of Arabian origin made of wood and ox skin. It is also known as the Thappitta. There is no time specific for a Duff Muttu performance. It can be played anytime of the day.

The players are usually six in numbers. They stand or sit facing each other and sing songs, swinging the body in different directions. The rhythmic beat of the palm on the duff controls the tempo of the song and the movements of the dancers. The songs of the dance are often a tribute to martyrs and heroes. The leader sings while the others provide chorus and drum the Duff with their fingers or palms. The dancers often toss the drums over their heads. Unique and rhythmic steps are also part of the dance.

Microfinance; Alternative Delivery Models

Author: Swadeque EK 

“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime”, “poverty will make humans blind”, “The rich is a nothing but poor with money”. I like to start my essay with these three beautiful quotations given by Aristotle, Prophet Muhammed and Allen Watts. Hear they all are focussing to the different perspective. First two quotations are clearly saying the impact of the poverty. We could see the practical example for this from African and some of the Asian countries. The third statement brings out the beautiful hypothesis which differentiating poor and rich. Poor and rich are the two sides of the same coin. They may have same or more participation in the social aspects of the societies. They may live in same street of the same town. Then what is the difference between the two phases of the society. We can easily say with empirical examples that, the different is created by the economic differences of societies. Simultaneously second question is coming to front, that is, why these differentiations happened. There are several reasons for the question. One of the main reason is, closed, continues, hierarchal and highly exploitative web of the local money lenders presents in the Indian villages. Hear the importance of the microfinance is emerging. It facilitates the poor to access to small credit and savings in a systematic way. According to Robinson (1998) “Microfinance refers to small-scale financial services for both credits and deposits that are provided to people who farm or fish or herd; operate small or microenterprises where goods are produced, recycled, repaired, or traded; provide services; work for wages or commissions; gain income from renting out small amounts of land, vehicles, draft animals, or machinery and tools; and to other individuals and local groups in developing countries, in both rural and urban areas’. Hear I would like to focus on different alternative delivery model of the microfinance along with the positive and negative impact of those models in the world.

There are different models for microfinance in the world. Grameen Bank Modal, Self Help Group Modal and Individual Modal are the main important three modals which the people are commonly using. All of them have very unique and comprehensive feature. The entire tree modal have success stories from different stakeholders and places. They all are following very systematic way of all kind financial and supporting or enabling function to the poor people.

Grameen bank modal is the prime successful modal of the microfinance. Its origin is the cradle of the microfinance concept; Bangladesh. Muhammed Younus; the Nobile Prize winner is the father of this modal. The modal is widely replicated throughout the world and very famous. There are five elements for the modal. It comprises; five affinity group (SAG- Self Affinity Group), a centre of eight affinity group, weekly meeting, regular saving of all members, approval of loan decision in the group itself, direct payment of the loan to the Clint and very systematic instalment of the repayment system. It promotes the groups and motivates the people to attain the sustainable livelihood. Within all the systematic process, the modal ensure the simplicity in all sort operation such as designing of the products and sanctioning of those products. The concept of the entire system is based on an assumption that the all poor needs regular self-employment. But the person took the loan have to start to repay loan with a certain amount of interest, the next week after the loan disbursement. The impact of the modal in the Bangladesh is highly discussed. According to UN council (2009), every month 10,000 poor are coming out of the poverty because of the modal. But it is argued that many people suicide because of the high interest rate. So the founder Muhammed Younus kicked out by the government from his position. In short, if the problem of the system solved by any of the new intervention, the modal would bevery good for the sustainable development of the poor.

Self Help Group modal is widely used in India with the help of the different NGOs like DHAN and PRADHAN. It is a modal for enabling the community to identify and solve their problem rather than the direct implementation and right based intervention. It starts with saving of the SHGs. The entire benefits of the financial and non-financial activities of the group will go to the benefits of the members of the group. Kalangiam Federation of the DHAN Foundation have successful story of the modal. It enables the community to overcome the financial long-term indebtedness and exploitation. It also has very systematic way of programming of the entire organizational activity and development outlook. In India the modal is spreading very quickly. Hear the affinity group contains 15 – 20 members. The modal brought much social and economic development in the southern India especially Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The financial transactions of the groups are self-regulated by themselves. According to last year reports of MAYRADA; one of the MFI, the credit creation of the groups are very high in the group. Most of the groups are rotated their fund more than eight times of the saving of the members.

Individual Banking is another delivery modal. In this two sub modal are available; JLG or Join Liability Groups and lending to the individual client directly. In India BASIX is providing these two facilities. JLG method helps to get back money very fast from the people who took the loan. The both modals help the people to start any venture for their own. The second one is very suite for the credit to personal purposes. Bank of Rikayath one of the successful microfinance institutions is concentrating to the individual loan.

Presently in India the linkage concept is coming to very fast. There are so many reasons for the linkage programme of the bank and SGHs. The following description of the Srinivasan (2010) is giving very good outlook to the Linkage concept. He wrote that “The provisional data of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) indicates that the self-help group bank linkage programme (SBLP) growth might be in a declining trend both in outreach and loan portfolio. The number of self-help groups (SHGs) that had outstanding loans was 4.58 million at the end of March 2010 which represents 8.5 per cent growth over the last year (4.22 million).1 The volume of outstanding loans was at ` 272.66 billion representing an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year (` 226.79 billion). The incremental loan outstanding achieved under the SBLP was of the order of ` 45.87 billion which is lower than the incremental loan outstanding achieved by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) during the year. The disbursements by banks to SHGs increased by 49 per cent over the last year (` 122.53 billion) to ` 183.43 billion. Savings by SHG members increased to ` 63.58 billion from ` 55.45 billion. The number of SHGs with savings increased from 6.12 million to 6.81 million, by 11per cent. The average disbursement per group increased to ` 115000 which was a substantial step up over the last year (` 76000) (Table 2.1).” this quotation is very clearly stating the development and changes of the last year. It enables the commercial banks to get more profit and more customers. The direct intervention of the bank to the very bottom community is very difficult for them. Being a commercial entity, they will have their own self-interest for the same. But the both side have benefits. People will get access to loan very fast. On the other hand, the bankers will get more profit. For instance, because of the Kalanjium and Canara Bank linkage programme in Ramanadu region, increases the profit of the bank from the 1.8 crore to 18 crore during last ten years. There are three type of the linkages in India. In first the bank will give financial assistance to the SHGs directly, but they will not take care the operational expenses and social intermediation. Hear these both things will handle by the NGOs. In second modal the Banks will not approach to the any of the SHGs directly. Instead of that they will provides the loan facilities directly to the NGOs. NGOs will operate both financial and non-financial activities. The third modal consists of the Bank and SHGs only. They are making and promoting the SHGs and giving credit facilities directly.       

But the sustainability of the all models is argued from the different sources. I have some personal experience about the less growth of the some of the MP. The reason for the failure of the replication is high interest rate. Some of the places SHGs are charging more than the interest rate of the money lenders. The common interest rates of the SHGs are 3% PM. It means one year interest rate is 36%. It is almost three times of the local bank loan. In Andhra Pradesh some of the MFIs intervention created many farmers suicide and it was very big issue. Same thing happened in the case of the Grameen Bank Modal also.

SHGs are working for the marginalised poor community or poorest of poor. They are struggling to meet their day today life. The huge interest rate will create many problems in their life. So SHGs should not be a profit oriented business concern, but should be a social responsible institution. Some of the people are telling the profit will go to the common fund of the organization which will be useful for the development. But the person who took the money, to him it is burden. And the common money will be used for making some office or any other common development which will not be an income generating.

Number One For Me 

by. Mahar

I was a foolish little child
Crazy things I used to do
And all the pain I put you through
Mama now I'm here for you


For all the times I made you cry
The days I told you lies
Now it's time for you to rise
For all the things you sacrificed

Oooh
If I could turn back time rewind
If I could make it undone I swear that I would
I would make it up to you
Oooh
If I could turn back time rewind
If I could make it undone I swear that I would
I would make it up to you


Mom I'm all grown up now
I'ts a brand new day
I'd like to put a smile on your face everyday


Mom I'm all grown up now
And it's not too late
I'd like to put a smile on your face everyday


You know you are the number one for me
You know you are the number one for me
You know you are the number one for me
Oh oh
number one for me


Now I finally understand
That  famous  line
About the day I'd face in time
Coz now I have a child of mine


Even though I was so bad
I've learnt so much from you
Now I'm trying to do it too
Love my kids the way you do


Oooh
If I could turn back time rewind
If I could make it undone I swear that I would
I would make it up to you
Oooh
If I could turn back time rewind
If I could make it undone I swear that I would
I would make it up to you


Mom I'm all grown up now
I'ts a brand new day
I'd like to put a smile on your face everyday


Mom I'm all grown up now
And it's not too late
I'd like to put a smile on your face everyday


You know you are the number one for me
You know you are the number one for me
You know you are the number one for me
Oh oh
number one for me


There is no one in this world
That can take your place
Oooh I'm sorry for ever taken you for granted


I will use every chance I get
To make you smile
Whenever I'm around you


Now I will to try to love you
Like you love me
Only God knows how much you mean to me


Oooh
If I could turn back time rewind
If I could make it undone I swear that I would
I would make it up to you
Oooh
If I could turn back time rewind
If I could make it undone I swear that I would
I would make it up to you


Mom I'm all grown up now
I'ts a brand new day
I'd like to put a smile on your face everyday


Mom I'm all grown up now
And it's not too late
I'd like to put a smile on your face everyday

The number one for me
The number one for me
The number one for me
Oh oh
number one for me