KANJANGAD: The 38 years that Suresh Babu Anjootan has played a demigod as a Theyyam artiste have not armoured him against caste discrimination.
Besides being a CPM member and a councillor of the Neeleshwaram Municipality, Mr Babu, who belongs to the Velan Dalit community, is the only Anjootan (an inherited honoured position in Theyyam) in Kasargod district. Yet, he says he has suffered discrimination at the dining table on account of his caste.
“Times have not changed much. A few upper caste people still have a filthy attitude to us,” he regrets.
While reluctant to talk of his own experience, he says Theyyam artistes from the Vannan community were ostracized not too long ago in Thuruthi, Kasargod only because they demanded a better wage.
“Though lower caste people perform Theyyam, the organisers are temple committees and upper caste families. So the attitude is, ‘you perform and take what you get’,” he deplores.
As for himself, he finds he is placed on a pedestal one moment and torn down the next.
The same caste people jostle for space to touch his feet when he is playing demigod and then go back to treating with contempt when he is back to being himself.
“Once I remove the attire, they treat me like a Dalit,” he laughs. Mr Babu doesn’t see any contradiction in a CPM member playing a demigod.
“My father was also an Anjootan and a party member. I feel that both roles complement each other,” he adds. But which role does he value more?
He doesn’t need to think before answering, “Without Theyyam, there is no Communism in North Kerala.”
The Theyyam season begins in the Malayalam month of Thulam and ends in Edavam, lasting a mere eight months. Mr Babu’s Theyyams of Puthiyaparambath Bhagavati,
Thiruvanakadu Bhagavati and Muchilot Bhagavati are very popular with people who throng to him for a solution to their problems.
At Perumkaliyattam, he stays in a sacred place, often in a makeshift tent, fasting and following strict rituals.
“Once I am dressed as a demigod, there is no sign of a Communist or councillor. My speech, the way I behave, everything changes dramatically and I automatically come out with remedies for peoples’ problems.
Once I remove the attire, I can’t remember what I have told them,” he says.
Despite their moments of glory the demigods clearly live lives of financial deprivation and caste oppression. “If we had real divine power, the first thing we would do is do away with this deeply entrenched caste discrimination,” says a Theyyam artiste bitterly.
