Bell Bajao in the Streets of Puttur: a tour to spread awareness on domestic violence in a quaint Malgudi-esque town
Day 1: Koi Gal Nahi, Puttur
Breakthrough is an organization that created the Bell Bajao campaign, it fights domestic violence, spreading awareness on one of India’s most unreported crimes. It was a no-brainer when they called and asked for support. Besides, we’d been planning on street-jams for a while.
[Photo-1] The Band and its sea of baggage at Puttur Station. Pic: Montry Manuel
[Photo-2] Tea/Fruits Stall: a nice round counter, warm friendly faces. Pic: Montry Manuel
Puttur is one of those stations that time forgot, something that reminds you of Malgudi. It even has the bell that the station crew come out and ring when it is time for the train. Not to mention the hot tea in old glass tumblers (not plastic or paper) from this here stall.
We loaded up and reached our crash-out zone, a simple guest-house where the trees were alive with songbirds and the environs were violently green. Us city folk take some getting used to this idyll, we read about it, we dream about it, but then when it is really around us it takes a while to sink in.
We did two sets in Puttur of about half an hour each, managing to squeeze in some video-shoot time as well. The crowd went through Curious > Bemused > Smiling > Clapping and Grooving stages. It was quite an experience! Head over to the Flickr page for more pictures. Mention must be made of the wonderful people who made it happen, Vani and Meghana on the ground, Sanjukta and Sonali from New Delhi. Thanks, folks.
The plan was to then head over to Sanjeev’s ancestral home where his family was armed to the teeth with food of all forms, waiting to catch an unsuspecting band of boys and stuff them till they were green at the gills. How much we ate! And the food just kept coming, one relentless stream of delicacies.
Of course, we had to burn it all off – so Montry decided to indulge in his new pastime: Calorie-payattu: Cardio in Kerala style.
Time to hit the road now – back on the train!
Text: Jishnu Dasgupta
Pictures: Pavan KJ, Montry Manuel