An artist enthralls the audience at Village Ticket in Chennai. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
As you get closer to the grounds of the Sathyabama University, you can hear the soft drumbeats of Parai getting louder. It’s 5.30 in the evening, and about two kilometers from SIPCOT Park, a man dressed as a tiger is dancing in front of a parade worthy of a village thiruvizha, The three day long Village Ticket is actually modeled after one.
Initiated by Hemchandran L, CEO of Brand Avatar, the event serves as a nostalgia package for those who left the village for concrete pastures and a learning experience for city dwellers. The vast, arid grounds of Sathyabama University have been transformed into a little patch of rural paradise, complete with cowsheds, thatched huts and paddy fields. All designed to introduce city dwellers to the work and joys that make up the rural lifestyle. The event was inaugurated by actor Vishal, who participated in a bullock cart ride and planting rice saplings.
Women planting paddy saplings on village tickets.
Hemchandran is from Arakkonam, on the outskirts of the city. He traveled to Chennai to study, and missed the little things that defined his daily life back home. “Life is simple,” he says. The ‘simple’ things are on full display, though city dwellers may be having a harder time with them than we think.
The fair is divided into sections, each section dedicated to some or the other aspect of rural life. There is a field-work area in one corner with a paddy field, where visitors learn how to plow with a bullock cart and plant small rice seedlings. There is also a mortar and pestle, where the former is filled with husked rice grains. Jayanti, a village near Tiruvallur, is there to support the visitors. “Just beat the grains again and again, and then, voila! The rice is ready,” she says with a bright smile.
Villagers have come from all over Tamil Nadu to run the stalls. Around 33 food stalls line the edge of the ground, with dishes ranging from traditional items like Ambur Biryani to Aloo Jharna. However, the biggest attractions are the events that showcase the pomp and gaiety that accompanies a thiruvizha, There are many cultural competitions for colleges across the city, such as folk dance performances Puliyattam And oyilattam, and cooking competitions with pottery over an open fire. Parai Drumming Circle run by artist Sound Mani is a crowd pleaser. The program begins with a lively crowd-work session, and then the sixty attendees learn the basics through a quick call-and-response format.
People participating in the tire competition.
“Ultimately, the profit goes towards the villagers and other farmers across the state,” says Preksha Singhvi, one of the organizers of the event. “This whole event is for their benefit.”