Thiruvananthapuram :

An incidental meeting with a wild tusker trapped in a trench in the Wayanad forest was the trigger which propelled Sangita Iyer to develop a deep bond with this majestic animal.

The incident happened in June 2013. The Canadian journalist and documentary film maker was on a visit to the state to take part in the rituals associated with the death anniversary of her father who hailed from Alathur in Palakad. “We were coming down from Ootty when I chanced to see the wild elephant in a trench. A wild life conservationist friend who was with me urged that I should visit Kerala again in December to see the difficult life of captive elephants,” says Sangita.

December is the time when temple festivals begin. And these festivals sans elephants, all decked up in the fineries, is something which the people of the state can’t think about!

However, what’s on display at these festivals is not caparisoned elephants but hapless victims of human torture who are made to stand for long hours in the blistering heat on legs pck marked with blisters and bruises. These hapless animals have to even bear extensive damage that the fireworks display wreak on them.

Birth of the documentary

What she saw at the festival grounds made Sangita to embark on a two year long crusade to bring to light the plight of elephants through a medium she knows best. She has made several environment related documentaries and short films in Canada and Bermuda where she worked. “But the documentary I was about to make was a bigger project. I had no money and I had to use my pension funds for the initial steps,” she says. But when people came to know about the magnitude of the project, money started pouring in. She managed to effectively crowd source the 300,000 CAD (Canadian Dollars) project. The filming started in May 2014 and by May 2016, Sangita and her team had over 200 hours of footage. She wanted to get the film screened in Kerala by December last year. But technical issues delayed it. The documentary was finally screened at the Legislative Assembly complex on June 29 before the members of the Legislative Assembly.

Accolades

After receiving accolades from Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and other MLAs the film was subsequently screened at Thrissur. The screening was done under heavy police protection considering the fact that many festival enthusiasts had not taken the theme lightly.

According to Sangita the response she received so far is overwhelming.

When the documentary was again screened at Kalabhavan Theatre on Wednesday, not a single eye was dry. Sangita herself often gets emotional when she talks about Lakshmi, one of the female elephants featured in the documentary. “I got so attached to Lakshmi. After our initial bonding she now immediately recognises me whenever I visit her,” says Sangita. The most haunting scene in the documentary is about the crude treatment Lakshmi receives from her mahout, who pries open her eyes with his unsanitised hands to apply medicine on a wound allegedly adding to her discomfort.

Sangita doesn’t want to be just satisfied with the laurels, she wants to put an end to the plight of the captive elephants by sensitising the public.

She is in talks with leaders from religious-political and cultural sphere to spread the message.

She says she will talk to the Education Minister to seek his help in screening the documentary in schools. Her 13-part documentary series on environment awareness is currently being used as an education aid in schools in Bermuda.

A Malayalam version of the documentary with poet Sugatha Kumari’s narration is also planned.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Unnikrishnan S / July 08th, 2016