Eleven years ago, my classmates and I were taken in the school bus to a place we least expected. The "Vadavathoor dump" in Kottayam district, Kerala. It stretched upto 3 to 3.5 acres back then and it was filled with garbage from all corners of Kottayam district. I was nauseated.
Ashik and I decided to document what they had to say about their own lives. As we walked around with cameras capturing what everyone had to say, we felt the need to show the world what the people of Vadavathoor were going through. Every human being should know where the garbage we throw away reaches and how it affects others. "Voices Unheard: Part I" talks about this.
It’s easy to be mute observers like how we have been over the years. Now, it’s time to rise to the occasion. This documentary is a reminder to every viewer that the responsibility of making a better tomorrow starts from your homes. Picking up a chocolate wrapper from the ground and putting it into a waste bin is not the end of the story. It is only the beginning. We have a long way to go.
The only thing I wanted to ask my principal Mary Ammachi at that moment, was why she wanted us to see this mess. I was a very reserved kid back then and I didn't have the courage to ask anyone that question. So I did not ask.What I witnessed out there was a sea of plastic. Even the biodegradable kitchen wastes were carefully packed in plastic bags. I looked up in the sky and I could see some egrets ('kokku' in malayalam) flying. For a second I thought what the dumping yard would look like to them from that height.
We came back to school and in the course of time we learned a lot of things ranging from solid waste management, aerobic composting, 3 R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), waste segregation and so many other things. We even made paper bags and distributed it to super markets so they could stop giving away plastic bags to their customers. I slowly began to understand the phenomenon called Mary Roy a.k.a. Mary Ammachi. She was fighting a lone battle (not that she required anyone's support.) and we were her soldiers.
In 2008 I passed out from school. One thing I still couldn't understand back then was why Kottayam, a place known for its 100 percent literacy rate, could not manage its own waste efficiently.
Years went by and it was 2013. I decided to take a break from mumbai where I had been going through a creative phase in my life and went back to Kottayam. I didn't want to waste my time so I decided to conduct a workshop on the basics of filmmaking and creative writing. I didn't want it to be another one of those talked about classes that people would forget about in some time. I wanted this initiative to create an impact. I needed to seek some advice and I thought I would go and visit Mary ammachi. Surprisingly she remembered me, she spoke to me with so much energy and eagerness to know what I had been doing over the last few years. We didn't speak much about the workshop, but we ended up speaking a lot about the Vadavathoor dump. I could see that even then the dump had been hurting her and giving her sleepless nights. I stepped out of her house and walked down the familiar slope towards the office where I had parked my car. The intolerable smell from the Vadavathoor dump had reached my school. It was in the air that i was breathing.
Few days after that meeting with Mary Ammachi, my friend Ashik and I went to see the dump. What had been 3-3.5 acres of garbage land 11 years ago had become 7.5-8 acres of hell. Ergets that we normally see in paddy fields had become permanent occupants of the dump. It was difficult to distinguish them from the sea of white plastic, but when they flew away together in a hurry, we were surprised to see so many of them. Eleven years ago when I looked up in the sky and wondered what the dump would look like to ergets flying in the sky, little did i know that they were planning to inhabit Vadavathoor dump for good. For them it was paradise as they feasted on what we consider as waste. As we walked around we could see smoke rising up from different parts of the dumping yard. Breathing became difficult.
Ashik captured some visuals of the dump and some of the ergets flying in the air in his camera. We left soon only to return later.
Ashik captured some visuals of the dump and some of the ergets flying in the air in his camera. We left soon only to return later.
In the summer of 2013, I met few people who live near vadavathoor dump. They were victims of inequality and untouchability of another kind. They did not want to "live", they were just determined to "survive".
You are doing a great job.. Iam sure these unheard voices will reach the other people through your documentary,and people who lives there at present, will get some help and attention.. It was my honour that I could edit this documentary and could give some contribution to it.. I hope people who lives there and also other small places like these which are unheard gets noticed and live a better life like us.. I hope our beautiful message through our documentary reaches everyone and make them responsible towards the nature...
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