Counterflows
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Conversation with Mrudula Devi S – Lal̩itam Varn̩n̩am Asuram
Mrudula Devi S is an activist from Kerala and an editorial board member of Pat̩habhedam magazine. She was a teacher by profession, but retired to focus on and engage with Dalit-Adivasi-Bahujan issues. Here Mrudula talks about the invisibilisation, marginalisation, and exclusion of certain communities in India and talks about the relevance of projects like Lal̩itam […]
Conversation with Dr. Davesh Soneji – Lal̩itam Varn̩n̩am Asuram
Dr. Davesh Soneji is an Associate Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, who is trained as a historian of religion. His work focusses on the history of interface between religion, performance, and forms of cultural nationalism that developed in India in the late 19th century to the middle of 20th century. […]
Conversation with Pushpavathy – Lal̩itam Varn̩n̩am Asuram
Pushpavathy is a singer and songwriter from Kerala who has been associated with Carnatic music for over 34 years. Apart from being a successful playback singer in Malayalam movie industry, she composes, releases, and performs her own music that talk about the plight of marginalised communities in an attempt to create wider awareness around the […]
About Lal̩itam Varn̩n̩am Asuram
Lal̩itam Varn̩n̩am Asuram undertakes a contemporary reimagination of the tale of Śoorpan̩akha, a mythological figure from Indian epic Rāmāyan̩a, who was portrayed as a demoness for her dark skin, and violently dismembered for professing her love to the upper caste protagonists Rāma and Laks̩man̩a. The music takes three lines from the verse of Kharavadham, a […]
The Story of Śoorpan̩akha
Rāmāyan̩a, magnum opus of Hindu mythology, narrates the story of prince Rāma’s quest to rescue his wife Sīta from the clutches of ‘demon’ king Rāvan̩a. The story, popularly portrayed as the battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, embodies the Hindu idea of dharma—the duty of behaving according to one’s position and role in the society—and continues […]
Distant Voices (In Fluid Communion)
Birdsong, a passing car. The movement of water. A great dissonance of sunlight, glaring and sibilant, like a high peal of bells. Scattered fragments of conversation, trickling in and out. A little faded, a little fuzzy. The connection is fragile. And still, we commune.1 The word communication comes to us from the Latin commūnicō—I share, […]
Nawken
This is a 2 part podcast exploring the cultural context of Nawken (Scottish Traveller) song traditions and their links with wider social justice struggles for Scottish Travellers. This is part of a wider piece of work that me and Davie have been doing looking at the relationships between Nawken cultural ‘outputs’ (song /storytelling/craft) and access […]
