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

Parai attam refers to a performance of the parai—a hollow drum made of a wooden