When Kurathi Hidumbi came from the forest to a city stage

When dusk kissed the capital city, Konthi and her Kurathi tribe came to life in the sprawling grounds of Putharikandam Maithanam. There she mourned for her fellow beings, the children of the forest, who died as they fell victim to countrymen’s greed and egotism.

Describing the life of the indigenous population of the Kurathi and Kuravan community was the play, Kurathi, The Vengeance of an Outcast.

The two-hour-long play, by Thrissur-based troupe Janabheri, threw light on the purity of the tribal community and how they protect mother nature. The exceptional production staged on Thursday also challenged the conventional concepts of a play.
“Our main motto was to communicate to the public about the life of the tribal community who are children of the forest. They are part of the forest just like the trees, birds and animals. The play also weaves in tales and characters, such as Kunthi, Hidumbi, Bheema, Ghatotkachan and Nayadi, from the Mahabharatha,” says the director Abhimanyu Vinayakumar .

Set over a 2,000 sq ft, the stage recreated a forest landscape, including a pond. The life of Konthi, a young belle from the Kurathi community, has a happy existence till her tribe is hit by an epidemic. When her siblings set out in search of herbal medicine to combat the epidemic, Konthi was left behind alone. To her surprise she meets Bheema, a man filled with pride, lust and greed, aiming to conquer the world. He subjugates Konthi and changes her name to Hidumbi. She gives birth to Ghatotkachan.

Playwright MN Vinayakumar intentionally showcases the negative side of the Pandavas and Kunthi. “In the Mahabharatha, the Pandavas are worshipped as heroes. But in making them heroes, many characters are silenced. When Arakkillam was burnt, the Pandavas replaced themselves and their mother with five men innocent and their mother, who were forest dwellers. Nothing more about who they were or about their family are mentioned in records.”

While the play borrows from an ancient story, its message is relevant for contemporary society. “The production is a narrative on current politics, global warming and even the death of Adivasi youth Madhu. It took me two years to complete the script,” says Vinaykumar, of the play, which will be staged in the capital till March 24.

Giving life to Hidumbi aka Konthi is theatre artiste and lawyer Samudra Renjith. Portraying the role, she says Konthi is the big tree and the others are the roots that hold her. “I joined the cast only 20 days prior to the show here. The character is such a strong lady that enacting her has made me bolder in real life. The hurdles she went through early on in life moulded her to overcome further obstacles and move on; I feel it is a lesson for me on how to face life,” says Samudra, who is based in Ernakulam.

Actor Raag from Thiruvananthapuram, feels the production has boosted his acting calibre. “The play was different from the conventional style of rendering the set dialogues. The 24 artistes, including youngster Vasisht, had three months of training for the play with Kuravan tribe-members from Wayanad coming to our practising area in Shornur and introducing their folk arts and indigenous languages to us. This helped us to make our characters authentic. In our role as tribal people, we even practised climbing trees and hanging on tree creepers and rolling in the mud. Experiencing nature in its raw form helped me emotionally become my character Ghatotkachan”.

The young actor adds that the play has made him to enjoy the life of a tribal man who does not care for money, clothes, style and the other materials of an urban man. “The role was an escape from the modern world. I always admired the life of forest natives as they are free from tension and responsibilities of the modern world. Through training for the role I found I was like one among them,” says Raag.
The play, rich in martial arts, was a novel experience for the crowd who were seated in a sandwich-style gallery, on either side of the stage. With chaste Malayalam, the drama was a question on who are the demons and who owns the earth.

Applauding the team after the final act, one of the viewers, Dr Mythili Vasudevan, says, “The play with the end scene of a massive flood invokes viewers to think about the importance of the forest and the community living there. We should respect them and their space. It felt odd to watch the Pandavas behaving the opposite of what we have known about them all these centuries. But I respect the creative freedom of the artistes.”

Photo Courtesy: Satheeshan Karicheri