Telling stories of independence

A documentary on freedom fighters by Goolappa Aralikatti being screened at a school in Haveri district. 

A performance by students organised by the Guru Institute, Hubballi.

A retelling of the Vidurashwatha massacre by the Dhaatu Puppet Theatre troupe. Photos by Vignesh Sampath

A retelling of the Vidurashwatha massacre by the Dhaatu Puppet Theatre troupe. Photos by Vignesh Sampath

India’s road to freedom was a winding, difficult one to tread. But nearly 75 years later, the significant sacrifices and contributions of our freedom fighters seem to be fading from memory. To help address this, individuals and organisations across the state have been spearheading efforts to raise awareness, especially among young minds, on the value of the freedom we are enjoying today. Their efforts are evoking patriotism in people through creativity and artistic skill.

Take, for instance, Goolappa Aralikatti, a documentary filmmaker from Haveri district. To highlight the contributions of regional leaders in the freedom struggle, Aralikatti has directed a documentary on more than 500 freedom fighters of Haveri district.

As per Aralikatti, many freedom fighters from Haveri joined the freedom struggle, inspired by national leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose. People may be aware of popular names like Mailara Mahadevappa, who was the only representative of the then Mysore State (now Karnataka) to have participated in the historic Dandi March.

However, many have not heard of the work and valour of Sangur Kariappa, Sardar Veeranagouda Patil, Gudleppa Hallikeri, Hosamani Siddappa, Veeramma Yareshimi, Siddamma Mailar and others, who made many sacrifices for the freedom struggle. This inspired Aralikatti to come up with a documentary on these unsung heroes of Haveri.

His 30-minute film has well-researched stories and rare pictures of the freedom fighters, interviews with their descendants and other historical facts. It was released in October last year, and has been screened in over 70 schools in the district, as well as in the Haveri railway station.

“Compiling historical facts for the documentary was not easy, as there were a lot of self-styled historians who were ‘selling’ misinformation. Zeroing in on genuine literature through books and visits to historical places and contacting descendants of freedom fighters was challenging,” says Aralikatti.

V N Thippangoudra, trustee of the Hutatma Mailar Mahadevappa Rashtriya Samark Trust, a Haveri-based non-profit organisation said that the documentary’s content portrays the facts and it has been received well by people.

Diverse storytelling

On similar lines, in Bengaluru, master puppeteer Anupama Hoskere of Dhaatu Puppet Theatre and her team have been telling the tale of ‘Vidurashwatha, the Jallianwala Bagh of Karnataka’, through string puppets.

The story is about a forgotten village in Chikkaballapur district, where nearly 32 people were martyred and more than 100 were injured on April 25, 1938 when they tried to hoist the national flag, defying prohibitory orders laid down by the British.

The conversations of Hoskere’s puppets are in English, while the songs and hymns are in Kannada and Sanskrit. It took the team over one year to prepare about 45 unique puppets to narrate the incident.

To give people a detailed account of the Vidurashwatha incident, the team created puppets portraying huli vesha and kolata (folk dance forms), a balegaara (bangle seller), and a scene of the santhe (market) and temple of that era.

“We chose this topic to convey the small, yet impactful contribution that such villages of Karnataka have made in fighting for freedom in our country, and also inculcate a sense of national pride in people,” says Hoskere.

The 45-minute puppet show is being streamed online as well.

Real-life stories

Young Kartik Raikar from Dharwad district has been voluntarily visiting schools and colleges across the district, telling students the stories of those who once fought for the country.

He has also prepared a model of the Kargil war and has compiled stories of 80 soldiers of the Indian Army to draw the attention of students and motivate them.

“My father, who was in the NCC (National Cadet Corps), wanted me to promote national pride. When he passed away from Covid, I took to this task of motivating students with patriotic stories to fulfil his wishes,” says Kartik.

Kartik makes his sessions interactive so that students can ask questions and get a clear picture of the selfless valour of patriots. He intends that the students get a feel of the sacrifices made for the well-being of our country.

Students draw inspiration from real-life stories and so, Kartik collected lesser-known, true stories of national heroes. “The current generation is smart, and it is time to make them look and think beyond just textbook history.”

In Hubballi, Guru Institute has taken the ‘drama route’ in bringing patriotism to life. The institute, led by theatre personality Yashwant Sardeshpande, is encouraging school and college students to stage plays on patriotic themes to increase knowledge about the contributions of freedom fighters. Written and directed by different thespians, the plays are based on the lives of Chandrashekhar Azad, Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, Chennabhairadevi and the revolutionary Bedas of Halagali (a village near Bagalkot’s Mudhol).

Ravi Kulkarni, a theatre personality who has been associated with this activity, said, “A good patriotic drama helps students instantly connect with the characters (freedom fighters) and absorb the message conveyed. This evokes emotions and enriches patriotism.” Hence, the team encourages students to enact the plays for their peers.