By
Shevlin Sebastian
When
the Luxembourg-based artist Sophie Medawar opened the newspaper on
Friday morning (December 14) at Fort Kochi, and read the news about a
strike in Kerala, she could not help but go down memory lane.
In
August, 2016, when she landed in Kochi, with her husband and
daughter, they set out from the airport to Chingoli, near Haripad. As
they cruised on the highway, both could not help but notice the
rather deserted highway. Sophie’s husband turned to her and said,
“Kerala is very quiet. What’s happened?”
Sophie
was also equally puzzled. But when they reached their destination the
people said, “Oh you managed to come. We have a strike today.”
And
that was when Sophie understood why their driver had pasted a notice
in Malayalam on the windshield. She was told it read: ‘Tourist
transportation’.
Interestingly,
Sophie has had her own experience of a strike. This was when she was
studying at the ‘Academie Julian’ art school in Paris. On her
second day, when she stepped out on the Boulevard Saint Germain to go
to college, she saw people shouting and walking past.
Soon,
the police fired teargas canisters. In response, the strikers also
let off small explosions. This resulted in white, red, blue and green
smoke. “It created a fog and the police could no longer see the
rioters properly,” says Sophie. “It was amazing. Thankfully,
there was no violence and I was able to reach the college safely.”
Sophie
pauses and says, “The French are masters of the strike. And they
are still at it. Although the riots in Paris today have become
violent.”
For
Sophie, that initial experience in Paris of a strike was a novel one.
That’s because, in Luxembourg, there are no strikes at all. “It
is a very quiet country,” she says. “In fact, the last strike I
remember was when I was 12 years old.”
A
boy had been run over by a bus because there were no proper barriers
near a school. So the people protested. “We have never had a strike
for political reasons,” she says.
Incidentally,
the country has a population of only six lakh or, as Sophie says,
“That is the same number of visitors that are expected to arrive
for this year’s Biennale.” So, because of their small population,
they can pass messages directly to their politicians. And there are
swift responses from the powers-to-be.
“But
having said this, in my travels, I have seen strikes in many parts of
the world,” says Sophie. “It’s a part of life for many people,
not only for Malayalis.”
(The
New Indian Express, Kerala editions)
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