Drumming into Guinness
Hussain Kodinhi
First Published : 17 Apr 2005 12:00:00 AM IST
17, April 2005. The New Indian Express. It was a day of celebration for Kadalundi, a tiny hamlet near Calicut, when Sudheer, a tabla player from this village created a world record for a marathon 56 hour performance. The programme was held in January at an outdoor stage near Kadalundi railway station. On the third day after he started, Sudheer emerged victorious with a smiling face and walked into the pages of the Guinness Book of World Records. He broke the record held by Prasad Choudhury from Maharashtra, who had played for 46 hours non stop. After breaking the world record, Sudheer continued his performance for another ten hours.
The programme was meticulously planned keeping the Guinness rules in mind. Though the Guinness authorities fixed the time and date, the venue was his own choice. A 15-minute break is allowed after every eight hours. Prescribed minimum length of a rhythm is two minutes and the same rhythm cannot be repeated within four hours.
Sudheer began with teental and slowly gathered pace with varying range of rhythms like keherva, dadara, and deepchandi. More than a dozen well-known artists, including the famous playback singer G Venugopal, were at the venue.
A mammoth crowd, chanting and dancing to his tunes, was present to witness the historic moment when he crossed the previous record. He continued tapping on his favourite instrument and finally concluded the show in the evening with a solo in keherva, setting a new record of 56 hours.
A videographer by profession, Sudheer developed a keen interest in tabla when he was five. As a child, he used to participate in weekly bhajans conducted at his mother’s house. He later trained professionally under Karmachandran and Ayyappnashan.
In 1991, he led a group of artistes from Kanyakumari to Gokarnam, along with the Malayalam poet Akkitham to spread the message of communal harmony. His first marathon performance was in 2003 at Calicut setting a personal record of 10 hours. In 2004 he played for 13 hours without a break. These two attempts gave him the confidence to attempt a new world record. He did it with the programme ‘Talalaya 2005’ which was dedicated to world peace.
Sudheer does not want to be a professional tabla player. “It is a gift of god and I do not want to sell it”, he says. He believes that the overwhelming support extended by the villagers helped him to keep the tempo for such a long time. People celebrated his concert like a local festival and cheered him on. I owe my success to this village and its people,” says Sudheer.
Showing posts with label Profile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Profile. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
The dancer, the healer
A dancer, a healer
2006-05-18 18:17:00
Hussain Kodinhi
First Published : 21 May 2006 12:00:00 AM IST
21 May, 2006. The Indian Express"My biggest dream is to live as a woman, at least for one day,’’ said Kalki Sabari, a transgendered individual from Coimbatore. For the last twenty five years, the life of Kalki has been an unending struggle to manage a dual personality: the soul of a woman within a male physique. But this life-long ordeal has not debilitated her determination to pursue the best in her life.
From someone who was thought of as a puzzling character by her teachers and colleagues, Kalki has grown to become an activist for the transgendered community in India.
Kalki was born in an upper-caste family at Ambika Nagar in Coimbatore. Her parents named her Sabari, and this continues to be her legal name. Instead, she has adopted another name; that of Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology.
Kalki received a good education in an English-medium school at Kodaikanal. Though Kalki was largely treated as a boy in the family as well as in school, she always preferred the company of girls.
Kalki’s teenage years were a horrible experience as the feminine side of her personality became increasingly pronounced. She was rebuked and molested by other students, and even by teachers. During her college days,she was always targeted by many groups of students. She was ragged and virtually hounded all the time on campus.
Struggling to come to terms with the trauma of all this ill-treatment, Kalki began to develop a clandestine relationship with eunuchs outside the campus. Every day, after the regular class hours, she would sneak out of the residential campus to join ‘‘her own people’’. Once outside the campus, Kalki would transform herself into a woman, clad in a skirt and blouse. However, while in college, she would dress like a regular boy.
Soon fed up with the drama of concealing her true self, one day Kalki confessed to her parents her yearning to be a woman. Her family was horrified, and hushed up the matter to protect themselves from disgrace. A month-long stint of psychiatric treatment followed, at Vellore Medical College. Still, she remained ‘abnormal’ everywhere.
But Kalki was determined not to be deterred by all this, and therefore, pursued her studies seriously. She now holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature and a PG in Mass Communication. She also holds a diploma in Advanced English.
Having learned from her bitter experiences, she decided to fight for the cause of transgendered people, who are considered as outcastes by the society. In 2005 she launched the magazine, Sahodari, in Tamil. Since most of the contributors are eunuchs from the transgendered community, the publication stands out as a pioneering attempt in India to allow the voice of the community to be heard. The magazine has now become a platform for the transgendered to share their feelings amongst themselves. It is now freely distributed amongst the transgender community in Coimbatore and also other places nearby.
‘‘The public society is insensitive to our feelings. Even the media target us for all the wrong reasons,’’ rues Kalki. ‘‘We behave arrogantly just to protect ourself,’’ she says. Kalki maintains close contact with the transgender community all over the world. Recently a website (www.sahodari.com) has also been developed for this purpose.
Kalki discovered dance as a medium through which she could reconnect with her true self. It is evidently more than a passion for her. Right from her school days, she has given numerous performances and won many prizes.
Fascinated by Indian dance mudras and western dance movements, she has developed her own unique style of dance, which she terms ‘‘freedom of soul’’. She is deeply engaged in research to progress her art. She claims that this new artform will be able to heal men and women; particularly those belonging to the transgendered community.
2006-05-18 18:17:00
Hussain Kodinhi
First Published : 21 May 2006 12:00:00 AM IST
21 May, 2006. The Indian Express"My biggest dream is to live as a woman, at least for one day,’’ said Kalki Sabari, a transgendered individual from Coimbatore. For the last twenty five years, the life of Kalki has been an unending struggle to manage a dual personality: the soul of a woman within a male physique. But this life-long ordeal has not debilitated her determination to pursue the best in her life.
From someone who was thought of as a puzzling character by her teachers and colleagues, Kalki has grown to become an activist for the transgendered community in India.
Kalki was born in an upper-caste family at Ambika Nagar in Coimbatore. Her parents named her Sabari, and this continues to be her legal name. Instead, she has adopted another name; that of Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology.
Kalki received a good education in an English-medium school at Kodaikanal. Though Kalki was largely treated as a boy in the family as well as in school, she always preferred the company of girls.
Kalki’s teenage years were a horrible experience as the feminine side of her personality became increasingly pronounced. She was rebuked and molested by other students, and even by teachers. During her college days,she was always targeted by many groups of students. She was ragged and virtually hounded all the time on campus.
Struggling to come to terms with the trauma of all this ill-treatment, Kalki began to develop a clandestine relationship with eunuchs outside the campus. Every day, after the regular class hours, she would sneak out of the residential campus to join ‘‘her own people’’. Once outside the campus, Kalki would transform herself into a woman, clad in a skirt and blouse. However, while in college, she would dress like a regular boy.
Soon fed up with the drama of concealing her true self, one day Kalki confessed to her parents her yearning to be a woman. Her family was horrified, and hushed up the matter to protect themselves from disgrace. A month-long stint of psychiatric treatment followed, at Vellore Medical College. Still, she remained ‘abnormal’ everywhere.
But Kalki was determined not to be deterred by all this, and therefore, pursued her studies seriously. She now holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature and a PG in Mass Communication. She also holds a diploma in Advanced English.
Having learned from her bitter experiences, she decided to fight for the cause of transgendered people, who are considered as outcastes by the society. In 2005 she launched the magazine, Sahodari, in Tamil. Since most of the contributors are eunuchs from the transgendered community, the publication stands out as a pioneering attempt in India to allow the voice of the community to be heard. The magazine has now become a platform for the transgendered to share their feelings amongst themselves. It is now freely distributed amongst the transgender community in Coimbatore and also other places nearby.
‘‘The public society is insensitive to our feelings. Even the media target us for all the wrong reasons,’’ rues Kalki. ‘‘We behave arrogantly just to protect ourself,’’ she says. Kalki maintains close contact with the transgender community all over the world. Recently a website (www.sahodari.com) has also been developed for this purpose.
Kalki discovered dance as a medium through which she could reconnect with her true self. It is evidently more than a passion for her. Right from her school days, she has given numerous performances and won many prizes.
Fascinated by Indian dance mudras and western dance movements, she has developed her own unique style of dance, which she terms ‘‘freedom of soul’’. She is deeply engaged in research to progress her art. She claims that this new artform will be able to heal men and women; particularly those belonging to the transgendered community.
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