by Nillanthan Maha, November 11, 2023
On the 4th, a party was held at Dilco Hotel, Jaffna. The Jaffna Municipal Council administration and the concert have contacted the hotel management and inquired about the event. The hotel management has given the contact information of the Colombo-based company called “Shuttle Vibe” which organizes the event. Some have spoken on the phone with the “DJ” music provider at the event. Two men wearing helmets on a motorcycle threatened his house. Even if you conduct the event with police protection, you have been warned that you should come out after the event. However, the event took place on the day in question.
The hotel management claims that a total of no less than 100 people participated in the event and eight of them were women. Out of those eight, two women came with their partners, two were sisters and four were members of the same family circle. Alcohol was served there, but the hotel management says that the alleged use of drugs is false. .
Opponents of the phenomenon oppose it from two points of view. The first is from the point of view of culture. The second is from a political perspective. That is, because it is the month of Marveer, such events should not be organized.
Heroes Week is coming at the end of this month. Diwali falls in the first week of the month. The streets of Jaffna city were thronged with people all last week. No need to assume that those who have been to a DJ party will not remember.
Usually a crowd is like that. First of all it wants to be entertained. No one wants to lose the opportunities to dance, the opportunities to sing, and the opportunities to enjoy. At the same time, they do not forget those who have sacrificed their lives for them. People should be understood as they are. A group of people cannot be ordered not to do this. Such ordering may be possible in a time of war. But how to do that in an era without armed conflict?
No one orders people to celebrate Diwali, birthdays, Adi Amavasi, Chitrap Poornami. No one takes people from vehicles to the rotating discourses and discussion platforms in the Durga Mani Mandapam. Because all of them are things that people have been mesmerized by religious culture and beliefs. So the problem here is how to make people mesmerize remembrance.
The memories; the sorrow that kneels beneath the memories; All parties and political activists thinking about how to turn anger into a political force would do well to think about how to popularize remembrance.
Art, literature, festivals and celebrations show that people want to be happy. So parties and activists should have a cultural vision to entertain people in appropriate ways.
As a result of globalization and technological advancement, the tastes of societies are changing. DJ Party is one such thing.DJ. is an abbreviation of the English word disc jockey. It means playing interesting songs at a party or a public gathering place. Dancing accordingly. An American introduced it in 1935. In 1943, the first DJ party took place in England.
In Tamil areas, DJ music is about selecting existing movie songs and remaking them suitable for dancing. In it, especially the rhythm is heard. Tumtumtum. It is like a heart beat. But a generation dances to it. Not only the young but also the middle-aged dance along.
It’s good to dance. It removes body stiffness and tension. It relaxes the ego. It is a good exercise and mental exercise. But why do we dance? When do we dance? Where do we dance? Most of the youth gatherings have a DJ game. No one cares whether the sound is pleasing to the ears or the mind when the speakers are vibrating. All we need is a song to dance to. But does it show that our nerves and ears are numb? The ear that listens to good music and the mind that enjoys good music are numb. It is a taste change. Taste change. Another change can be pointed out here.
Karanjundal Vandil comes with our memories. It comes in our streets at night with bells ringing in the light of Paridomax lamp. It is also called as Lala Candy Vandil. It is said that the origin of Karan Chundal, which is a mixture of frosting and sourness, hot and flying, is North India. But now it is rare to find karanjundal in our festivals. Karanjundal is available only on the last three days of the Nallur festival. Instead, something called special is sold.
A few cassava seeds; a few pagodas: some small round peanuts; Small sourdough wheat dumplings; Avitha noodles…they put many and ten on a plate and pour a little karanjunta on it and pour some kind of gravy. That’s what’s special. But what happens when you pour some nameless broth inside a crunchy cassava slaw and fried little pea pods? The crunchiness will be lost. By then, everything will be spoiled by mixing the karan sundal. The taste of a food cannot be separated from its physical properties. But is it delicious to spoil the unique physical properties of each food and put everything together? But that is what they sell as a new taste. People love to eat it. It is a change in taste; a change in taste.
Like the DJ party, does it reflect the changing taste of Jaffna? Why are our ears numb? Why are our taste buds numb? When did we get used to dancing to heart-pounding music? What happens when a society’s senses are numbed and its perception dulled? Other societies can easily hunt it down or defeat it.
This is one of the consequences of globalization not only for Jaffna but for the entire world. Parties, activists and cultural movements have to create their works by taking into consideration the changing tastes.
During times of war, especially when a state controlled land as a result of an armed struggle, Heroes’ Day was observed as a state event. But now only if you control the minds you can control the lands and you can keep the politics under your control. Therefore, parties, activists and civil societies should think how to attract the minds of the Tamil people in the changing political, economic and technological environment. Art and cultural structures should be created for that
What should a crowd enjoy? What to taste? What and when to celebrate? How to celebrate? Parties and activists should have the necessary cultural visions to guide people in the right places, such as when to celebrate.
The academic community should decide what to make a topic of discussion among students. How many Tamil parties in the country have student bodies? How many Tamil parties have student bodies in universities? Debate platforms, DJ patties etc. which have become topics of discussion on social media in recent days, all convey one thing to the Tamil people. A society that struggles for justice, fails to create the structures it needs, all these things happen in a vacuum. Art and culture organizations, humanitarian organizations, etc. are such nation-building structures.