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NrithyaPillai

@nrithyapillai

Mar 30

Also there is a specific violence associated with temples and dancing -hereditary practitioners also problematically refered to by the stigmatising term devadasis were criminalised for association with the temples and feudal courts. This denial is part of bharathanatyam history.

Till date dancing in a temple is complicated for women like me from hereditary castes. Dalits are still disallowed from many temples. Most hindu temples today are also politically aligned right , donations fund right wing politics. Why should an atheist and communist dance there?

To add to it what is the politics behind a progressive , liberal, communist ideology bearing, non hindu person dancing a form which has a history of appropriation, exclusion and serves TODAY as a vehicle for hindu majoritarianism?

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NrithyaPillai

@nrithyapillai

Mar 28

I know very well that this news too from Kerala is doing the rounds in the tone of "Atheist Muslim woman practising India's 'secular' cultural heritage been barred from dancing in Hindu temple". thenewsminute.com/article/bharat…

While my sympathies lie with comrade Mansiya VP , I have questions too. As an atheist and communist, how does she feel about dancing reinvented Bharathanatyam ,that has a history of appropriation and cultural violence against it's original hereditary practitioners at it's core?

I don't get how it is " radical " for a previously muslim woman, who is now atheist, married to a hindu man , dancing reinvented hindu " mythological" themed bharathanatyam in Hindu temples that today are sites of Hindu majoritarianism that fund right wing politics.

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NrithyaPillai

@nrithyapillai

Mar 28

For a state with the greatest literacy rate , a large percentage of left inclined progressive people and a history of communist governments ruling the state -there are so many cases of dowry deaths and suicides due to domestic abuse from Kerala.

Sad truth is that caste based endogamy,dowry,misogyny , patriarchy, communal bias, caste hegemony have all subconsciously thrived as "culture and tradition". Caste and religious majoritarianism are silently celebrated aspects of "INDIANNESS"!

Here is the case of an educated woman , working as a journalist with Reuters newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/…

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NrithyaPillai

@nrithyapillai

Feb 6

For many women with courtesanal pasts in the Hindu religion, association with brahminism and the Hindu right has provided some relief, they have sometimes been able to practice their art and achieve success as artists. Lata Mangeshkar is an example of this.

There are those who call her
"brahmin" &those that say she was from "devdasi"community. One needs to see it from the lens of the influence of Savarkar on her family, creation of gomantak maratha caste,her father's involvement in the nationalist project of Marathi natyasangeet..

The equations are no different today,for the left often reduces bahujan hereditary women to descendants of exploited victims of sexual abuse who were saved through reform.The choice to lean right,toward brahminic power has been a survival mechanism #LataMangeshkar

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NrithyaPillai

@nrithyapillai

Jan 20

The history of criminalisation of hereditary courtesan castes
should not be perceived through anecdotal historical debate references b/w Muthulakshmireddy, Sathyamurthy Iyer/figures from past.There needs to be analysis of the repercussions on formerly courtesan castes today!

What has criminalisation done to the psyche of women from these castes? How was the reform carried out? Were there reparative and rehabilitative measures or safe spaces for women to pursue the art? Or were they simply erased or pushed to live in the margins?

How are people from these castes treated today in the caste ordained society?Stigma and persecution is very much part of the lives of most persons from these caste backgrounds. Do we discuss intergenerational trauma and social ostracisation that continues to be part of our lives?

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NrithyaPillai

@nrithyapillai

Jan 19

Some practitioners have now started to begin Bharathanatyam performances with a Hereditary acknowledgement statement, which I think is maybe a good first step in acknowledging the problematic history of Bharathanatyam.

I have personally had messages from some practitioners asking what kind of statement can be read out. For me, I am unable to put in words the violence & the repercussions of the violence women like me (from the castes where Bharathanatyam is appropriated from) continue to face .

But Prof. Hari Krishnan (Wesleyan University) and Dancer Neeraja Ramani together have brought out a statement which they have suggested people can use. I am sharing it in parts as a tweet here with slight changes that I have made.

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