Per Mattu Kali ( Name change Game)
- Bhavana Brindavan, Ann Sankey, Anupama Rao
- Dec 5, 2015
- 2 min read
How did it all begin? What does the name Mattancherry mean? We went chasing the history behind the name and they told us stories after stories. Some say it was a street filled with mutton butchers and that gave the name “Mutton Cheri”, others say it was essentially a community of Musilims in the beginning and that gave the name “Mathan Cheri” translating to “Muslim Street” in Malayalam.
As they were telling us these different versions we saw in them and the name to be a hazy memory, disconnect to the past and more of a lack of understanding of their presence. The name was just a story they told themselves about themselves. A sugar coating. An assumption.
They were more than just a name.
They were fisherman, auto drivers, shopkeepers, artisans, mechanists all from different religions and backgrounds. At the end of the day they look beyond these boundaries that separate them and all gather at one place in the heart of the Muslim community to wind down and play Caroms at the “Friend’s Club”.
They are all united by a game, rather than a name. Caroms was the story they had to tell us and we saw in them team work, hardship, pride and passion for the game.
For them Caroms was what defined their friendship and made them a community. So we end with questioning what brings together a community.
Is it the name that is an assumption that contemplates life or the game which is an act that defines life?
This documentary is an interesting take at how the water influences the time of the community around. A place where time has an entirely different meaning and how we perceive it.
Author: Bhavana Brindavan, Ann Sankey, Anupama Rao, Aakarsh Kushalappa, Gaargi Kulkarni; R.V College of Architecture
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