Kakkoos (கக்கூஸ், Toilet; Tamil, 2015 Documentary)
Director: Divya Bharathi
It is a difficult film to watch. In fact, I had to skip watching many scenes of this documentary as it proved too graphic for me to stomach. But that is the very reason, the director, Divya Bharathi made this documentary. Divya, a member of the Leninist-Marxist party and a social worker, got the idea to put it in film after reading about a spate of deaths of sanitation workers in after toxic fumes inhalation.
We, of the middle and upper-middle class members of the society often forget the people in the fringe whose hard work assures us of having cushy and healthy lives. Without their deeds, the aesthetically pleasing white wash appearances of our cities would not stay that way.
Viewing this movie reminded me of my Professor in Parasitology told the class when some of us squirmed while preparing a slide from a stool specimen. He told us to respect the sample as it was essentially his 'bread and butter'!
Even though the Indian Laws are clear on sanitation, the rights of employees and the discrimination of people based on caste, the reality is far from what is inked in the Legislation. The Dalits are the little people who are seen but purposefully ignored by the society. They are left to do the menial, dirty and dangerous works that nobody dares to do. Social hurdles, lack of opportunities and lack of education trap them in the perpetual, cyclical and vicious cycle of poverty, melancholia and hopelessness. Their presence reminds us of our organic nature; a reminder that we are all just full of obnoxious gas and loads of toxic crap.
At the local level, in the municipality of Chennai, the workers interviewed in the flick seem to allege of being shortchanged by contractors appointed by the local government. The officials appear to put the cart before the wheel. They stinge on building modern facilities and are not worried about the loss of workers' health and lives as they handle night-soil without any protective gears. On top of that, privatisation of sanitation services in Chennai put the poor workers of the unscheduled at risk of being cheated by non-payments for services by unscrupulous employers. Invariably, these poor souls have neither safety nets nor avenues to state their grievances.
Even though the powers that be are gung ho in building modern toilets to prevent indiscriminate expulsion of human excrement, the level of civic consciousness among the general public is sorely missing. Even watching this documentary churns the stomach of the viewer, what more to the people who there cleaning these up surrounded by smell and sight of the offensive. This coming from one of the oldest civilisations with the oldest language in the world, nuclear capability and poised to be the biggest economy in the world is surprising, even laughable.
https://thereel.scroll.in/832273/toilet-ek-prem-katha-it-isnt-documentary-reveals-the-brutal-reality-of-manual-scavenging
Director: Divya Bharathi
It is a difficult film to watch. In fact, I had to skip watching many scenes of this documentary as it proved too graphic for me to stomach. But that is the very reason, the director, Divya Bharathi made this documentary. Divya, a member of the Leninist-Marxist party and a social worker, got the idea to put it in film after reading about a spate of deaths of sanitation workers in after toxic fumes inhalation.We, of the middle and upper-middle class members of the society often forget the people in the fringe whose hard work assures us of having cushy and healthy lives. Without their deeds, the aesthetically pleasing white wash appearances of our cities would not stay that way.
Viewing this movie reminded me of my Professor in Parasitology told the class when some of us squirmed while preparing a slide from a stool specimen. He told us to respect the sample as it was essentially his 'bread and butter'!
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| Director interviewing a worker |
At the local level, in the municipality of Chennai, the workers interviewed in the flick seem to allege of being shortchanged by contractors appointed by the local government. The officials appear to put the cart before the wheel. They stinge on building modern facilities and are not worried about the loss of workers' health and lives as they handle night-soil without any protective gears. On top of that, privatisation of sanitation services in Chennai put the poor workers of the unscheduled at risk of being cheated by non-payments for services by unscrupulous employers. Invariably, these poor souls have neither safety nets nor avenues to state their grievances.
Even though the powers that be are gung ho in building modern toilets to prevent indiscriminate expulsion of human excrement, the level of civic consciousness among the general public is sorely missing. Even watching this documentary churns the stomach of the viewer, what more to the people who there cleaning these up surrounded by smell and sight of the offensive. This coming from one of the oldest civilisations with the oldest language in the world, nuclear capability and poised to be the biggest economy in the world is surprising, even laughable.
https://thereel.scroll.in/832273/toilet-ek-prem-katha-it-isnt-documentary-reveals-the-brutal-reality-of-manual-scavenging
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