The Sound of the Fury

On a Sunday morning at the usually crowded Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, the loud beating of drums began echoing through empty streets. It was a group of youths from Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia, who had gathered for their weekly practice of parai attam.

The youths, part of a group called the Neelam Kalai Kuzhu—Blue Arts Collective—began by chanting a Tamil slogan:

Parai ongi olikatum
Idhu uzhaikum makkalin viduthalaikai
Engal parai mulakam savukaga alla
Uzhaikum makkalin valvukaga
Onki adipathil kiliyatum
Paraigal alla suya sathiya perumai pesuvor mugathiraigal

Let the parai sound loudly
For the freedom of the working people
Our parai shouts not for death
But for the life of the working people
By beating loudly
Let the veils of proud casteists be torn apart