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An ode to the crossdressers

7/10/2011

12 Comments

 
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Men with the flying chariots take a road journey in Punjab
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Hanumanji with the red socks. A scene from the Kotdwar Malviya Udhyan Ramlila
In the small hill town of Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal (that you probably know well by now - since you’ve been inflicted upon with my blogs for a while) this is the fortnight of the cross-dressers. In these lazy hills, known for their lazy men and hard-working women with alabaster complexions and frown-lined foreheads (you can well understand why), now is the time when  the bhullus and the bhaijis (younger and elder brothers) stub out their bidi butts, pull up their red woolen mojaas and with a robust Bol Siyapati Ram Chandra ki Jai get down to performing the Pahadi Ramlila.

Over the years, men have been playing female characters in this grand epic that spoilsport Vedic researchers now claim  is complete fiction. Come October, and almost divinely-inspired, they raise their deep baritones to high tenors; and with delicious flutters of kajal-laced eyelashes and tantalizing turns of shaved waists, they don the long-haired wigs and err.. fake bosoms and get down to playing every female character in the Ramlila –  from simpering Sita to crafty Kaikaye to Manthara to Mandodari. To the beats of the dholak and the strains of the harmonium; reciting poetry that cannot find a match anywhere else in the world (Hey Ram tumhare kehne se, ek jhagda mol liya maine), they flaunt their sequined saris and red-lipsticked mouths, dab generous circles of rouge on bristly powdered cheeks and step into the skirts of some of the most famous female characters in Hindu mythology.

Far away from the big cities with their multi-entertainment options, our small towns find their own kind of fun. The Ramlila, with its numerous attractions – from family values to human failing, from love to lust, from jealousy to devotion, from cowardice to courage and last but certainly not the least, the dark repercussions of fooling around with another man’s wife – covers a gamut of human behaviour that no Bollywood potboiler or television soap can ever hope to match. No wonder then that all considerations of caste and class are forgotten in otherwise orthodox Kotdwar where Thokdaar saab doesn’t mix around with lesser mortals and takes it as a personal insult if people have not bowed their heads the mandatory 15 degrees and folded their hands to say Namashkaar. Post-dinner, almost everybody trudges faithfully down to the Ramlila maidan where hot roasted peanuts sell from shaky old carts and monkey-capped vendors deal out hot steaming cups of chai in ribbed glasses and gur ki gajak on a snipped off piece of yesterday’s newspaper. Thokdaar saab, Brigadier saab, DIG saab and others sahabs in the privileged class get plastic chairs to sit on while the rest of us bring our own mats and durries from home or squat on the grass or the crumbing stone wall under the twinkling stars, companionably sharing gossip and chanas.

When the love-struck Suparnakha quirks her eyebrow and swings her hips to entice Ram and/or Lakshman (often to the tunes of the latest Bollywood numbers – from Sexy, sexy sexy mujhe log bolen once upon a time to Main hun Jalebi Bai, sab puchte hain mujhse tu kaun des see aayi – with the crowds dutifully roaring Lanka) she is the ultimate item girl with a bust size, sex appeal and an attitude that can put Mallika Sherawat to shame. So what, if behind the stuffed and firmly secured brassier she is actually a he. The whistles and cat calls from the high testosterone Romeos sitting in the anonymity of darkness are enough to make the devout old ladies bristle and the rest of us giggle in delight. Besides the actual tale with its numerous teachings - the most important being "victory of good over evil" that US presidents battling self-created demons are touting only now, the Ramlila experience holds out a few lessons of its own. That gods we worship in Hinduism, a staggering 330 million in all, might never have existed but they represent individual human qualities that society has always aspired to have -  like courage and devotion (Laxman), family values (Ram), devotion and morality (Sita), fearlessness (Durga) and so on and so forth.   

The other interesting observation, that new age film directors are homing on only now, is that grey shades in a character make it more interesting. So while old ladies with covered heads dutifully drop coins into the arati thali with a fluttering flamed diya that is passed around every hour and little kids with naughty eyes keep a sly lookout for loose coins that can be picked up from the thali if no one’s watching), the biggest attraction of the dance drama is another man. The undisputed crowd-puller is the larger-than-life, dark-eyed, magnetic bad boy of the Ramayana – Lankapati Ravana of the swaggering walk, the wide chest, the reckless attitude and the booming reverberating voice. The flashing evil in his eyes when he spots the lovely Sita, his sheer audacity when he decides to pick her up, just like that, and his relentless pursuit to win her affections, are a class apart.  It’s something that no modern villain can hold a candle to. When the towering Ravana makes a grand, glamorous entry on the day of Sita haran with his swishing yellow satin dhoti and flashing black eyes,  the crowds swoon and sigh. They hold on to their breaths and that scalding-hot chai ki pyali as his evil unfolds and though every kid knows how it will all end, every generation watches with bated breath and continues to flock to the Ramlila maidan for Ravan’s debut appearance year after year. The entertainment goes on. And it will go on till the day those multiplex movie halls and mega malls eyeing the rural market leave it alone. I just wish they would pass us by because we are having more fun watching the cross-dressers under the open skies than they can ever hope to match.

Mojaas: socks; bol Siyapati Ranchandra ki jai: all hail Sita's husband Ram; Hey Ram tumhare kehne se, ek jhagda mol liya maine: Hey Ram, I took on this fight because you told me to; Namashkaar: Namaste; maidan: ground; Sexy mujhe log bolen: people call me sexy; main hun Jalebi Bai, sab puchte hain mujhse tu kaun des se aayi: folks call me Jalebi Bai and ask me which country I come from; chai ki pyali: cup of tea)
12 Comments
navin link
7/10/2011 01:44:31 pm

Down the line, you have earned yourself a fan, with your wonderful articles.
the art of finding joy and beauty in everything around you. which, a lot of us miss out in our routine, busy, daily lives.
Thanks for reminding us of that beauty every now and then.
That Jeep photograph is a masterpiece, hillarious.

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chotu
7/10/2011 11:26:54 pm

okay piece

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BIG B JB
8/10/2011 02:07:03 am

once again back to Bachpan....where enjoyed such beautiful acts...wow..may be in present world one may find it obsolete/absurd for today's world...but facts remains this is a binding force in society where it reminds us our Devotional/Orthodox attitude..... remembered how one slept on Durrie during Ramlila...how excited when Ravana was burnt....beautiful article.....thanks...

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Tanu
8/10/2011 01:51:44 pm

Made me nostalgic remembering the Ramlila of Lansdowne , where dad was once a proud member of the vanar sena. And a small town ramlila where one is familiar with everyone from the actors to the audience is so much more fun.......!

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Mahendra
8/10/2011 02:45:37 pm

I suspect Rachna deliberately ignored the main ingredient that gets the testosterone levels shooting up at these events - Army Rum (or other lesser brands/un-brands) generously imbibed by both the actors and the audience. This of course provides some interesting twists to the otherwise predicatble tale - for example when Ravana refused to die (Lansdowne Ramlila) and had to be (literally) convinced behind the scenes to let it go this time ("theek hai, agle saal tu Ram ban jana yaar - chal gussa thook aur mar jaa ab").

The other thrill (for the audience) was guessing which famous local figure was under what make up ("Are ye to apna Yaasin Bucchad (butcher) hai!")

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Manu
9/10/2011 03:13:44 am

...or when frantic members of the cast would be looking for ram /sita / ravan, who would be sneaking as swig backstage.

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DEEPAK GERA
10/10/2011 08:45:41 pm

..very colour full..its story of every town.....i miss Ram-Leela days...

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RITEN
10/10/2011 11:14:16 pm

The Other Side of Midnight

Rachna’s narration of Ramlila in a small town is indeed so cute and exciting. Ravan and party in an open jeep is an absolute hit.

But somewhere between the lines,I get a feeling The Rich and the Famous
want to perpetuate Archaeology/my expression may betray me, but what I wish to say that the current generation plays the role of a conservator of all the cross dressing and Hanuman smoking Beedi on the sidelines. View it against the news item two days back,A village in China,Huanxi celebrates its 50th anniversary by inaugurating a 328 metre high building in the heart of the village.

I wish a group from this small town visits Bhartiya Kala Kendra in Delhi staging Ramayana through October. Why our small towns remain obsessed with fake bosoms and red shot eyes. Let them also get closer to Sound and Light and the Technology even if it is at a modest scale.

The trouble is the DGs,Brigadier Saabs and those high fliers come back after retirement and park themselves in the Chaupal with a hookah. They seem to make a special effort not to corrupt the environment with the glamorous culture from where they have retreated. They wish to get back to innocence, but in the bargain contribute to the divide between big towns and small townships.
Once in a while we see a Gulabo representing India in Bolshoi Theatre,or a malkhan group knocking the living daylights from the Culture Vultures of the cities-but these are just flashes.
C’mon Veterans,You can surely infuse high standards and stage a Ramlila in a small place in Kotdwar, the like of which India would envy. Dhobi Lachchu or Butcher Kalla can still be among the star cast, but let us conceive a pitch and raise the bar.Do you think it is unachievable, if not, can someone spearhead such an initiative.
Thanks for a wonderful write up.

Reply
Ritha Hegde link
11/10/2011 10:19:24 pm

Its really admirable that the ppl from your place are still watching those plays in such great number. Forget about the multiplexes, just TV is enough to keep ppl at home. Good observation on 300 gods representing human qualities...that was a nice take :)
and lazy men...ha ha :P

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Anima
12/10/2011 01:40:52 pm

Got a good laugh at how well you created the picture of sexy-sexy/jalebi bai song and dance during ramleela...

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jwala link
13/10/2011 01:53:18 am

That was really nice.....people sitting in the jeep are too cool,u know how to bring smile on ur fans face............

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hookah pipes link
20/7/2012 09:37:39 pm

Love the jeep! that looks so cool!

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    Rachna Bisht Rawat is a full time mom and part time writer. She is married to an Army officer whose work takes the family to some of the most interesting corners of India.

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