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Literary Review
Maverick with a mission
AT a seminar held in Chennai on women's issues, Elangovan, bilingual poet and playwright from Singapore, won quite a few admirers not only by virtue of his offbeat work but also for the way he wears his attitude. He was the only man to participate in the event on all the three days. Even when a feminist speaker quoted a far from flattering reference to men, he was not put out. But then it is hard to shake his sang-froid. Considered the pioneer of modern Tamil poetry and experimental Tamil theatre in Singapore, he constantly handles issues that are sheer dynamite and never loses his cool even when each of his plays is subjected to surveillance by intelligence agents. "My plays, which are all satires, are constantly in danger of being banned. In fact, the only Tamils who attend my plays are the intelligence agents," laughs Elangovan.
Elangovan has had three volumes of poetry and two collections of plays published. "All my plays are published by me. Nobody will take the risk of publishing them as they think they are too controversial." (Koothu-p-pattarai launched his book "Flush".) "Controversy is my middle name. The Tamils in Singapore dismiss my plays as vulgar and profane, for, I subvert the images of the pseudo-Tamil culture. I question the political figures and cultural symbols of Tamil Nadu. In "Mamadrama", one of my plays, the Mamapub is the watering hole of empowerment for the disempowered Tamil minority in Singapore. The play is a hilarious satire about social alienation in Singapore, the escape from your caste, religion and society."
Elangovan, who was born in Singapore, has paid only a few visits to Tamil Nadu. "But I know everything about it: its literary movements, its politics and culture. The Tamils are a very complacent and docile people in my country and they are doing well financially. Tamil films and sitcoms on TV channels are their reference for cultural identification and these uphold obsolete feudal systems. In a multi-ethnic society consisting of the Chinese and the Malays, other than themselves, the Indians are always the second best men." The perception of the Indian macho male receives a beating in his work. "Singapore is a male-dominated society. The compulsory two-year training in the Army for young men makes it a rite of passage influencing the male mind.
"I am not pro-woman," he states. "I'm concerned about issues that affect both men and women. Since I take up the cause of the underdog, my plays also deal with gender issues as women are at the receiving end in a highly patriarchal society. Tamil women in their twenties divorce themselves from their milieu and associate with the Chinese and Westerners as they find their own society stifling."
"Talaq", based on a real-life incident dealing with divorce and enacted by the victim herself, was banned by the Singapore government. Since then, says Elangovan rather proudly, it has become the benchmark for the backwardness of the censors and the yardstick for measuring any contentious issue and controversial work of art. The playwright constantly confronts and questions accepted social stereotypes. "I explore the tensions that exist in a society comprising different races, the negotiations for space between the Chinese, the Malays and the Indians and the tensions this results in. You can eliminate racial discrimination through laws but what about the minds of the people where it is ingrained?"
Among his many plays, while "O2" is about the different races and their equations, "Dogs" addresses cultural and sexual issues. "Buang Suay" is based on research material gathered from interviews with Indian (Tamil) sex workers operating in various red light areas in Singapore. The play is not only about exploitation of women but also about racism and socio-political concerns. "Mines" creates a futuristic scenario of biological warfare "based on the sale of eight million landmines by Singapore to Saddam Hussein." Considering his themes and the fact that his work is sexually explicit, is it not surprising that the Singapore government allows his plays to be staged? "Rather... " he smiles.
Elangovan specialised in theatre direction in Australia after completing his Masters in Singapore. His book of poetry Mouna Vatham, which explored Tamil society's ups and downs in Singapore, was published in 1984. It was so bold in content and technique that conventional writers and critics dismissed it as almost blasphemous. "The book was available in libraries and schools and teachers held it up as an example of how poetry should not be written," he smiles. But Elangovan felt that the theatre was a more powerful tool to create awareness. "Smoke Ladder", an allegorical monologue written in 1988, was his first play to be staged. The censors accused it of poking fun at the totalitarian regime in the country.
The playwright worked in the National Arts Department for some years. "This experience helps me do the tight-rope walk very well, for, I know how far I can go in my plays without the danger of their being banned." He was also a Prison Welfare Officer in his twenties. "I had to interview criminals. I got to hear many incredible stories and gain an insight into how the human mind works." A training stint as a cameraman has also been beneficial to him as he directs all his works.
"Agni Koothu", the Tamil theatre company founded in 1991 by S. Thenmozhi in Singapore to present serious alternative theatre, has been staging his plays for the past few years. Thenmozhi was arrested for staging "Talaq". Elangovan's plays have been presented in Australia, South Africa and England.
Only one book house run by a Chinese woman stocks his books. The others don't want to have anything to do with them, he says. "And nobody ever calls me to participate in any of the seminars in Singapore. In fact, all my artistes have run away. I now teach theatre at a city college and my students are my actors," laughs the playwright who seems to revel in his role of enfant terrible of the Tamil theatre in Singapore.
Such a reputation for sailing against the wind has its own rewards. "I feel good knowing I don't compromise," says the winner of the South East Asia Write Award, the region's premier literary prize, which he received in Bangkok in 1997.
KAUSALYA SANTHANAM
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