Celebrating Ravana, the 'subaltern' who could speak

CHENNAI: During office hours, he is Saravanan, conscientious logistics executive. After hours he is Ravan, the kooky tattoo artist, the kind you would go to if you wanted something out of the world inked on your skin.
"My birth name is Saravanan, it's still the name one part of my world knows me by. But I changed it to Ravan a few years ago," says the 30-year-old. "I did it because I read up about Ravan and felt that he was a talented artist, scholar and king who was misjudged because he did not belong to his era," says Ravan. "He inspired me."

Of course, it also helped Saravanan, er Ravan, stand out as a tattoo artist. "I see him as a good guy. But the name conjures up a certain bad boy image and that helps in the tattoo business. It's certainly brought me more customers than when I was Saravanan the tattoo artist," he says.

As Dussera draws to a close this year, the festivities begin to celebrate celebrates the Hindu god Rama's victory over the demon king Ravana, signifying the triumph of good over evil as narrated in the epic Ramayana. Still, there are some in Chennai like Ravan, who choose to celebrate Ravana, who they believe was more good than evil.

Sundari Haran, founder of The Indian Public School chain, recently published her novel Mandodari's Ravayana, hailing Ravana her all-time hero.

"I think Ramayana is an unfair story, and that is why I chose to tell this tale from the point of view of Ravana's wife Mandodari," says Sundari. "He was a grand person, a scholar, doctor, and strategist of war. I wanted people to see that side of him. Ravan worked for everything he earned," says Sundari, who used to teach these stories to children in the US.

Although deciding against it this year, organization Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam celebrated a Ravanleela in 1974 in Chennai and attempted another in 2016.

The first Ravanleela was a year after Periyar's death, and took place at the headquarters of Dravidar Kazhagam, founded by Periyar. A year before his death, the leader had apparently mentioned in his notes that a Ravanaleela ought to be celebrated in Tamil Nadu, much like the annual Ramleela. The event was conducted in December of '74, where effigies were burned. Police arrested those involved but they were later acquitted. The 2016 attempt at a Ravanleela was thwarted when police took members of the outfit into custody before they could set about burning effigies.

"Ravana was the king of the Dravidian people. He was not a demon. He needs to be celebrated," says Thanthai Periyar secretary K Ramakrishnan. "We will be celebrating Ravana during Diwali this year," he adds.

A couple of weeks ago, Theatre Nisha performed an adaptation of Delhi-based theatre artiste Arun Kukreja's one-act play Dashaanan. The one-actor play, performed by T M Karthik, was a soliloquy of Ravana after his first battle with Rama.