In Conversation With Mahnaz Mohammadi

Published in Janapadam

The 27th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will honor Iranian filmmaker and women’s rights activist Mahnaz Mohammadi with the ‘Spirit of Cinema’ award. The announcement was made by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy President Ranjith at a meeting convened to constitute the organizing committee of the festival to be held in Thiruvananthapuram from December 9 to 16. Filmmakers, whose passion for cinema shines through even in the most difficult of circumstances, was first awarded to Kurdish filmmaker Lisa Callan. Ms Mohammadi, who has been a vocal for women’s rights in Iran for several years, was active in the ongoing protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for not wearing a hijab. Government decree. Her major documentaries include ‘Women Without Shadows’, ‘Travelogue’ and ‘We Are Half the Iran Population’. In 2019, she directed her first feature film ‘Sun Mother’, which was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. 

Here's my interview of Mahnaz Mohammadi for Janapadam, the magazine of Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala

1- Is film a powerful tool to fight for the truth about women?

I believe that it can be one if it is used as a mirror that reveals the reality of

women’s situation, especially when it is the point of view of women, and not men

whose hands are tied to the patriarchy. Then I can say that it will be the voice of

the voiceless.

2- Can you trace the changes that have occurred in the past two decades in

your filmmaking?

The greatest change perhaps in my opinion is that I have gone from portraying

women who were separated from the society by being behind bars in Women

Without Shadows to children who experienced separation within the society in Son-

Mother. The unchangeable element in all of these narratives are the literal and

metaphorical bars that dictate lives in Iran.

3- In your interview you did with Screen Daily, you pointed out the identity of

women as being guilty. You have even mentioned in many of your interviews

that just being a woman and a filmmaker is sufficient for you to be treated as

a criminal. What happened for you to say this? Are there limitations for you

as a woman?

You are automatically guilty when you deviate from a role that a society has

prescribed for you before you were even born. Such a society even assigns you role

models that perpetuate an ideal that strays and strips a woman from her wants and

assigns you the role of a mother who would be willing to send her son to be

sacrificed for the regime’s ideology. As a woman, if you so much as question this

role, contradict this fate, you have committed a crime.

4- Did the torture that you faced in prison turn you into a fearless filmmaker?

How do you see your evolution as a filmmaker?

This is a difficult question to answer because I believe that fearlessness is an

acquired character trait, and not an inherent one. My circumstances are not

inherent to any character traits. Let me put it for you in this way. Given my

circumstances, I have had no choice but to create a new path for myself. In the

beginning, I made movies as a path towards self-discovery and investigation of the

society, but right now I believe that I should merely occupy the place that I am in

without making any claims or commitments to what I may not be able to deliver.

To read my full article, kindly click https://prd.kerala.gov.in/publications

ONE-YEAR-OLD MOTHER

 

In my creative smithy, there lie the soft shadows of a zillion stories. Some stories do serve as the guideposts to my heart as well as my amygdala. Let me take you all to one such story that has transformed the elixir of my life into a new empire.

My marital life has translated me to an alternative realm of realities. I have created the faint footprints I have already traversed through the pages and stages of my life. The story of mine needs no filter, especially while I was sensing the euphoria of creation within me. Putting an end to all speculations, the much-awaited day to welcome the new love of my life has reached the doorsteps. Aah, it was a C- section delivery and everything befell in a few minutes’ hurry burry. In the shades of that anaesthetic instant, I heard the doctor’s announcement, “It’s a baby boy, dear”. In that moment of cloud nine, the nurse presented my baby for a moment. For me, the firstvision of mine to him appeared faint as I was in the frenzy of the surgical unit. Just one minute and my baby had gone. I had to wait one day and night to see, touch and sense him. The day began crawling and I was counting the hours and persistently asking the nurse to show the baby. They did it twice for a few minutes and he was taken away from me. I was desperately waiting for the dawn of the next day. To my utter dismay, I was discharged from the ICU only by noon after the doctor’s checkup, nurse’s advice, and kinds of stuff. Even in those moments of sheer exhaustion, I could heave a sigh of relief thinking my mother is there to take care of him. The one who has showered her unfaltering love and care ever since my birth is there for my baby too. Her sanguine presence will bestow an alluring welcome to my baby who is no more comfortably chilling inside my tummy clinging to the umbilical cord. When it’s time for me to be in my mother’s shoes, I began craving for the auspicious vision of my little wonder. The agony and pangs of the C- section has vanished just by a glimpse of my little marvel. Here begins a fresh chapter of my life with my cutie pie.Days and months passed liked a smooth breeze. Anvik aka Kunjapp, the spring of my life has bestowed a new world of happiness and happenings to me. The mother in me started weaving the tapestries of life embellished by his hearty arrival. Every day with him seemed to be a novel experience. I am always a mother in making as I have a better role model of my mother in front of me to learn, sense, and feel the verities of motherhood. To make matters worse, she fainted all of a sudden and we had to rush to the hospital. As she felt better after a few hours of drip, the doctor suggested coming the next day for a checkup including the COVID test. Kunjapp who is so fond of his grandma wanted to be in his arms and began screaming. Amma tried to evade his presence and his prattling voice beckoned her calling Ammamma. Amma slept off within no time after having a bowl of rice soup. The next day approached within a wink and Amma went to the hospital with Achan. As Kunjapp and I usually get up after 9o’ clock, they locked the door and left for the hospital. Around 09:30, I received a call from Achan saying Amma tested COVID positive and they may take some time to reach home. I could hear Amma’s voice saying she wanted to talk to me desperately. Over the phone, she told me: “Apu, baby’s banana’s stew isthere in his bowl and try to make him eat it fully. Take great care of him. Before I reach, both ofyou move to the upstairs room”. The call got disconnected. Amma’s unflinching and unwavering support has impelled me all these years. The one-year-old mother in me is yet to travel and unravel the serene patterns of motherhood painted by a thirty-one-year-old mother. Nothing canparallel the unfaltering love and selfless sacrifice of a mother. How can I not adore her for what she is and the way she is? Get well soon! Kunjapp yearns for a nap in your lap, Amma!

Ammamma – Grandmother in Malayalam language

Amma – Mother in Malayalam language

Achan – Father in Malayalam language

This story is taken from my scribblings revolving in, around and within the universe of my darling baby Anvik’s milestones. Now, Ammamma is counting down days to meet and treat her Goan baby!

( A snippet of my published story)

Diasporic Musings!

 “Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it” says, the renowned Russian- American novelist, Vladimir Nabokov.

Literature, being a product of culture becomes the source by which we come to know about the global scenario. Being a product of culture, it becomes the source by which we would come to know about the global scenario, multiculturalism and acts as a channel to enhance the bonds between various nations all over the world. In the contemporary era of globalisation, scientific and technological advancements, Indian writing in English is gaining momentum and numerous branches have emerged hitherto. The term diaspora has attained a place in the active vocabulary of multitudes as it is extensively used in the media, popular parlance as well as in scholarly literature.Diaspora studies linger over alienation, loneliness, rootlessness, homelessness,nostalgia, protest, assertions, search for identity, sense of acculturation, mobility and the in-between thrishanku like existence. 

Diaspora Indians on foreign land express themselves best through creation of literature. The avalanche of creative outpourings have traversed the borders and a galaxy of writers has seen, felt and sensed the ethos of a disapora. Jaishree Misra is one eminent Indian novelist who rose to fame with her debut as well as her semi-autobiographical novel, Ancient Promises. Born in 1961 in a Malayali family in New Delhi, Jaishree Misra has lived the life of a diaspora and her characters do reflect those sensibilities. She holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Kerala University, and two Post Graduate diplomas. Her notable works are Accidents like Love and Marriage, Afterwards, Rani, Secret and Lies, Secret and Sins, A Scandalous Secret, and A House for Mr. Misra.

Here's Jaishree Misra in an online conversation with our interviewer, Dr. Aparna Ajith

To read my full interview, click https://prd.kerala.gov.in/publications

Days in Daze

                                                 

            Living in a disjunctured world

Where everything looks whirled

Weaving my own tapestries of life

I just move on with the routine strife.

 

Fed up with the absurdity of the tainted cacophony

I crave the warmth of the bygone symphony

The very sense of exile makes me weary in this dire best

Wish I could drench in my eternal test

 

The mystery of this inescapable monotony lynches me

It’s time to decipher what I wish to be

Unmindful and unbothered of the veil of my reticence

I yearn to be a part of my newborn’s innocence

 

Curiosity deserts, vivacity dwindles, expectation escapes

in a warped world where homosapien fakes

It’s time for an unforeseen pause

As I wish to relish my poise

 

I desire to be in my less effervescent dome

As the converted comfort zone can mar my form

Being a misfit prompts me to soar alone

in my jubilant rhythm, I surprisingly and secretly hone”

Work-life Balance

“There is no such thing as work-life balance – it is all life. The balance has to be within you”. The phrase, work-life balance has turned out to be a part of our active vocabulary. It indicates the balance between one’s work and other aspects of life. It’s something we don’t find, rather we create. Personal and professional lives are inextricably intertwined with each other. In the ‘sick-hurry, divided aims and palsied hearts’, all employees/workers/ working professionals are in dire need of a work-life interface. It does create an impact on their performance and behavior at the workplace. Employees with great work-life balance become potential advocates of their organizations. A break from work is not a luxury but a necessity to pause and denormalize, switch off and enjoy, recover and recharge. One has to be instrumental in promoting a healthy balance between work and life. It’s the dire need of the hour to promote the notion of work and family in harmony. Hobbies hearten employees to take up some time for themselves. Amidst the hectic and engaging daily schedules, employees find time to nurture their hobbies. Gardening is worth mentioning as it promotes the purest human pleasures. Who does not fall for the serenity and life emanating from nature? A garden of vitality bestows a garden of positive thoughts in one’s mind. One can inculcate the art of gardening as a part of work-life camaraderie. The unprecedented Covid- 19 pandemic has given way to gardens and vegetable farms in a lot of homes. Yoga, the union of spirit, mind, and body hardly needs any introduction as it is a one-stop solution for the multiple functions happening in one’s physical and mental spheres of life. One must encourage the art of yoga to inculcate the need of stabilizing one’s mind, spirit, and body. Next comes the Soft Skills. They are a part of work culture as they comprise interpersonal skills, communication skills, listening skills, and empathy among others. One should promote soft skills in handling pressure. Stress is quite natural to any human being. It is imperative to manage the stress of any employee for better productivity, equilibrium, health, and so on. Soft skills in handling pressure have shown a positive impact so far in the unit. This is beneficial for the personal and professional points of life. Some people regularly pay visits to the orphanage. A warm gesture, a pat on the shoulder, and shaking hands can bring a smile to many who don’t have anyone as their kin or relatives. The residents at the orphanage don’t crave anything but someone willing to share some worthy time, lend ears to their feelings and care for them. Every visit to the orphanage marks a new page as the touching experiences make one feel like going again and cheering someone. Many people do this act of orphanage visits with utmost sincerity and happiness. The balance we create knowingly or unknowingly is vital for any productive work. “And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” (Genesis 2.2, King James Bible) There must be time to switch off or rest for a while. A work-life interface is the need of the hour and any working professional can emerge triumphant in materializing this balance between work and life.

Published first in ToI Blog

The Endearing Charm of Ezhimala!

 

My published article from Kerala Calling

What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more,    

to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks    
where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes,    
or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that    
tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness! 

Helen Keller, the acclaimed American author and disability rights advocate sensed the pulsating vibe of nature in its myriad shades. This holds true for the picturesque hamlet, Ezhimala, ravished by the verdant of the vibrant hues. Far from the madding crowd, there lies a scintillating hillock braving the landscape and stifling weather in Ramanthali Panchayat of Kerala’s Kannur district. The land of seven hills has a rich history and an incredible seafaring tradition that makes one spellbound. This jewel on the Kerala coast, known by numerous appellations comprising Eli, Eli Mala, Ezhimala, Ezhimalai, Mount D’Ely, etc. was the former capital of the ancient Kolathunadu kingdom of the Mushikas. As per the legend, the seven hills are a part of the Rishabdri Mountain that fell to the earth when Lord Hanuman was bringing the life-giving elixir, ‘Mritha Sanjivani’ on a mountain in his hand. A few pieces of the mountain dropped here and they turned out to be +the ‘sapta shaila’ or Ezhimala. The hills, renowned for plants with medicinal properties, witnessed the battles between the Chola and Chera Kingdoms of the 11^th century. According to historians, Vasco da Gama was led straight to Ezhimala by his pilot who had earlier informed him that this mountain would be his maiden glimpse from the Indian subcontinent. 

When I was an Ad-hoc Faculty of the Indian Naval Academy

All these still reverberate in the rhythm of this riveting hamlet. Mount Dilli Light House, an old tower of great antiquity, and Ezhimala Hanuman statue make one reminiscent of its glorious past. Lord Buddha visited Ezhimala as per a legend and one of the ancient Buddha Vihars was at Madai located at the east of Ezhimala. The ecological paradise of Madayipara enchants one with its alluring flora and fauna. The wonder lavished by the colours in the striking backdrop bestows a real visual feast to the spectators. How can one not fall for the backwater stretches fed by Kavvayi, Kankol, Vannathichal, Kuppithodu, and Kuniyan Rivers? Rural village tourism, backwater tourism, and Aqua- tourism have great potential in this pristine land dancing in greenery.

To read my full article, please click https://prd.kerala.gov.in/publications (2021)