Tetuan Dabaa Do- Strangulate It - Contd...
Repudiation of the intended encroachments of imperialism and cultural colonialism, through an integrated approach is what makes Chintan Upadhyaya’s site specific work ‘Tetuan Dabaa Do’ (Strangulate it) a welcoming change for the village folks of Parthapur, Rajasthan. Done during the recently concluded ‘Sandarbh’ workshop in Parthapur, this work speaks about the increasing number of female infanticide and female foeticide cases in Rajasthan. For Chintan Upadhyaya, the issue of female infanticide and foeticide constitutes the monstrous reality of his native state Rajasthan in general and Parthapur in particular. Studies show that Rajasthan is one of the Indian states that tops in this aspect. Tamil Nadu too runs for the top position. In the world average, India and China top the list.
Female infanticide and foeticide are conceptually considered as unacknowledged genocides. Considering the number of female infanticide and foeticide happening in the third world countries, studies point out that it amounts to pogroms during riots. Yet another study reveals that female infanticide manifests as a passively government sponsored activity notwithstanding the claims of legal ban and abolition of the same. Overriding patriarchal ideology, considering girl child as a burden thanks to the amounts spent on her for education and dowry, lesser social mobility, poverty etc are shown as the reasons for this selective genocide. Death is administrated and assured through pushing rice husk to the throat of the new born, making them to drink poisonous potions or even strangulating them with the umbilical code. There are incidents where the new born is smothered by the mother herself. In Rajasthan, according to Chintan, the common tactics used for administrating death to the new born is to strangulate it with the umbilical code, attach a thread around its neck with a stone at the other end and throw in water to assure its untimely deliverance.
‘Tetuan Dabaa Do’ cannot be called artistic or aesthetical. But it is real. Is it realistic or social realist? Art historical notions and the conventions that help us to define the aesthetics go useless here. Calling it artistic and aesthetic will be bizarre. It cannot be called social realist either because Chintan’s idea is not to represent what a society does it in its delivery rooms. When representation becomes impossible, the artist needs to find out a new way to express his concerns over the issue. Hence, Chintan does nothing but creates a tension between aesthetics and reality and load it with socio-political implications that people can easily identify with.
A bus shelter in Parthapur looks like an oasis in the middle of a desert. A society reveals both its achievements and shortcomings through its wall writings and graffiti. Perhaps, Chintan, while alighting from the bus here might have felt like looking at himself in a mirror. His village is reflected on the wall. It said, “Kanya Bhroon Hatya Karna Va Iskeliye Prerit Karna Kanooni Aparadh Hai”- Female Foeticide is a crime. Forcing someone to do that is too a legal offence.” A society devoid of gender prejudice cannot have wall writings like this. Though this graffiti could be considered as an immediate trigger for the works ‘Tetuan Dabaa Do’ one should be aware of the fact that Chintan has been doing the Smart Alec series where the sheepish looking and arrogance showing super infant is seen gesticulating at the viewer. Tetuan Dabaa Do should be seen as the psychological other of the Smart Alec babies. It is a transition from the imperialistic and super strong male baby to the unguarded, voiceless and victimized female foetus and infant. Perhaps, it connotes the change of the artist’s world view also. A travel from the glocal to the true local.
‘Tetuan Dabaa Do’ is a composite installation. At the bus shelter one sees a chain of basket cradles (traditionally used for keeping infants in Rajasthan) forming the shape of an umbilical code and going into a room (a rest room for the bus workers), which doubles up as a ‘delivery room’. There in the middle of the cow dung smeared floor, plaster cast of a female infant in a crouching position is kept in side a traditional turban (exaggerated in size) worn by the Rajasthani male folks. The turban is a patriarchal symbol for the Rajasthani male. Several meters of this rolled clothe hideously look like a surrogate umbilical code, which strangulates the female child. Several pieces of ropes are coming out form the turban and from around the neck of the baby. They are tied with rock pieces smeared with blood. On the floor there is an entanglement of drawings that too resemble the umbilical code. There are certain plastic envelopes in which the artist has deliberately kept the drawings of infants. These kids are sent to their watery bier enveloped in plastic covers!
On the wall there is a video projection, which actually captures certain bizarre footage of female infanticide. How they are strangulated and buried in their watery graves is graphically seen in these footages. Using clandestine cameras and decoy helpers the artist has done an investigative journalist’s job in this piece.
The outcomes of this works have to be noticed: One, nobody needed the artist’s explanation on what he was doing; Two, the male folk who came to see the works came out of the delivery room with shame stained faces; Three, the women folk who visited the work covered their heads with clothes as if they were mourning the death of a child; Four, more than outrage, this work evoked shame amongst the people; Five, even the patriarchs of the village could not disapprove what Chintan, their own boy has done; Six, most of them felt they are partners in a grave crime.
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