Awareness songs in rural Tamil Nadu - Nabeela Ahmed

Harmoniums and tabla drums, accompanied by joyous singing and clapping, and a tambourine too…one would assume these were all ingredients for the sheer merriment of a good old-fashioned shindig. Except it's just another weekday morning in the office for a bunch of hard-working social workers based in Tamil Nadu.

Music and performance have proved to be the most effective platforms for communication and awareness in the rural communities of Tamil Nadu served by the Development Education Society (DEEDS), the small NGO set up by Reverend J.D. Balasandrum over a decade ago. The NGO sought to address the local problems of disease and illiteracy, brought on by poverty in the drought-struck northern region of Tamil Nadu but had difficulty in finding the right ‘tools' to spread awareness to communities.

DiA volunteers try out some of the instruments

Social worker and herbal doctor, Dr. Rajan explains, “When we first tried talking to people via door-to-door canvassing, they just weren't interested and our campaign didn't succeed at all.” The DEEDS team realised their biggest hurdle lay in capturing the faith, as well as the attention of a community disillusioned by governmental negligence and rapacious moneylenders.

The answer lay in music – something all members of the DEEDS staff are passionate about, all belonging to church music groups or drama groups of some kind. Music is a means of communication that transcends linguistic and social barriers and opens up eyes, as well as ears to new ideas and allow for interaction. The team decided to develop songs and drama skits and then perform these on their regular visits to villages in the district.

Women's empowerment, health and immunisation, ignorance, child rights and caste discrimination were the key issues that need to be addressed in the Sholinghur district in northern Tamil Nadu and the DEEDS staff began to craft songs and short sketches tailored to the main issues relating to each area they visited. By 1996, a total of 53 songs were printed and the output is still flowing today.

Hearing a showcase of these awareness songs which range from heart-rending ballads that evoke a mother's pain at not being able to provide for her child, to soul-stirring and empowering stompers celebrating the importance of child and women's rights is truly inspiring. The DEEDS team have set a precedent in the region for a means of communications that is powerful, yet simple. Dr. Rajan highlights their aims; “ we don't just want to intrude into a village and impose what we think is right, communication and awareness are the most important things and what better way is there to start that off that atmosphere than with something as universal and inviting as music .”

The process of composing these awareness songs is as finely-tuned as the pieces themselves. The districts are sub-divided into ‘clusters' which are covered by different DEEDS social workers who visit on a twice-weekly basis. They identify key problems to address in their areas and then collate ideas together to write and compose songs that promote a message of motivation to target communities. The music and drama seek to encourage interaction on all parts, and there are both universal songs to uplift and empower as well as songs tailored to the individual cases of specific villages.

DEEDS continue to be as prolific as ever with their awareness songs, which remain the backbone of their awareness campaign in Tamil Nadu, This work has even found a following in government administrations, which have also adopted musical techniques in trying to reach rural communities. As the words below encapsulate, only unity can help address the struggle against poverty and ignorance…

Let's join together, let's join together all the people of the village

Let's join one then ten then 100 until we form a great movement

(DEEDS Song 3)