Malayalis staying away from Kerala get nostalgic about their roots, culture and traditions during festivals like Onam or Vishu when they get together and celebrate but then disperse back to their daily lives.
This is the same pattern of life for an NRI anywhere in the world, be it in the UK, the US or the Middle East. However, Melbourne breaks all those notions. For the culturally active Malayali Melburnians, every day is a festival. Apart from the regular associations, annual meets and festive events, they stay close to their roots through a 24x7 Malayalam radio, an upcoming web series, book club, language classes, dance group — all run by people with day jobs but are driven by their passion for culture.
Anu Rupesh, Aparna Jones and Varna Menon.
There’s nothing like music to connect Malayali NRIs to their homeland. That’s what made Aparna Jones, Anu Rupesh and Varna Menon come up with the idea of Paattupetti. The online radio has been on air since January 2016 and has attracted thousands of people all over Melbourne and around the world. “The three of us love music and have a huge collection of Malayalam songs. We used to discuss a lot about the songs we listen to, and during one such discussion, came up with the idea of a cloud app using which the three of us could listen to the same songs wherever we are,” says Aparna, a developer who worked on the app.
The trio was enjoying their favourite songs on their app when another idea struck them — of a radio channel. “It was not a business idea; we just did it out of love for music. We wanted everyone to have access to the songs they love at any time. Also, we have other jobs. The radio time was to indulge in our passion,” shares Aparna. Varna, a speech therapist, and Anu, a project manager in IT field, became the RJs. An ambient room in Aparna’s house was converted into a studio from where the recording, mixing and all happen live. The 24x7 radio channel became a huge hit in less than a year as the fan following increased by more than 65%.
Making of the web series Varikkachakka.
“The programmes include chat with celebrities, sending personalised audio messages via WhatsApp, apart from playing favourite songs on request. Paattupetti is available on website and Cloud and mobile applications. It also has the advantage of realtime feedback. We have listeners in not only Australia, but the UK, the US and the UAE too,” she adds. Though it’s a free service and earns no revenue, the women have invested in equipment, license, domain price, etc., but what gets them going is music and love from listeners.
Aparna is also part of a dance group Rhythmspeaks, which focuses on fusion of Indian dance forms. She says, “We train all multicultural nationalities at a performance art studio here. Our focus is not on Indian traditional dance forms like they do in dance schools, but on experiments in fusion of various forms.”
Now, the second story, on the web series Varikkachakka, brainchild of four friends — Biju Kanayi, Vimal Paul, Sanjay and Madhu, bound by their common love for filmmaking. “It is a 10-episode series shot in capsule format, each with a duration of 5-7 minutes. It’s a humorous take on the daily life of Malayalis here, inspired from people we’ve seen and incidents we’ve been through. Every episode is a different story about the mundane life struggles and real experiences of an NRI who has no support system of an extended family,” says Vimal, an IT professional who has composed the music and handled the mixing.
The director, Biju Kanayi is a bank manager and has experience in making short films. Sanjay, who handles the finance, is a mechanical engineer and Madhu, who takes care of the art and posters, is a tool and dye professional. The actors, singers, musicians, and technicians are not profesionally trained. Except for the editing, colouring and lyrics for the promo song, everything was done in Melbourne.
“To reduce expenses, we shot it after rehearsals, using three cameras without much improvisation. Most of the shooting was done indoors, but for outdoor shots, we got the approval of the Victorian Police and the City Commissionerate. We shot during weekends, the only time we had to spend with family. It wouldn’t have been possible without the backing of our wives. Varikkachakka began as a creative break from the busy life, but now, it has become a bigger part of our lives.” The promo song Ithu Melbourne has become a huge hit and they are keeping their fingers crossed for the premiere in September.
Sanjay, who handles the finance part, is also behind the book club Vipanchika Granthasala, which promotes Malayalam literature by sharing among the members books and e-books via an online platform. Apart from issuing hundreds of books — both classics and new ones — the club also facilitates publication of books and holds interactions with writers like Benyamin and Balachandran Chullikkad. It also holds Malayalam classes for children to connect with their rich heritage.
These Malayalis might be physically away from their homeland, but, with the fire in their spirit, they give a tough fight to people back home, saying, ‘Malayali da!’
