Life begins where the story ends

Jisha Surya
First Published : 14 Jun 2010

Many left the inaugural screening of the third International Documentary and Short Film Festival with a heavy heart and soggy eyes. But the director of the inaugural film ‘Children of the Pyre’, Rajesh S Jala, is all smiles. Through his internationally acclaimed film he has rewritten the lives of seven children who were boiling, evaporating, in the cauldron of the world’s hottest and busiest cremation ground.
Manikarnika cremation ground in Banaras, where the seven children eked out a living burning the dead, has perhaps not changed. But the children have. They are getting proper education, care and support - solely because the man behind the documentary was not ready to abandon the children to their fate after shaping a film out of their wounds, frustrations and longings.
For Jala, only 40 and a filmmaker for the past 14 years, documentary is not just about making films but a mission to better humanity. It was serendipity that led Jala to the boys. He went to Banaras in 2007 to make a documentary on Banaras. “But I was clueless about the subject. I used to frequent the ghats for a month. One day I saw a boy. He came out of nowhere in a flash, snatched a shroud that covered a dead body and ran away. I followed him and found that a group was working near the ghat, which collect the shrouds, clean it and recycle it for sale,” Jala said. He followed them and befriended them. Jala had stumbled upon his subjects. He worked with the boys for more than two years.
The documentary won national and international acclaim, including best documentary at Montreal and Sao Paulo film festivals. However, Jala was not ready to quit. “During the making, I became friendly with the kids and was keen to do something for them. Last year, I approached Plan International, a community development organisation. They liked the film and launched a project, Bhageerathi, to help not only these seven children but also 300 similar children in Banaras,” he said. Inspired by his film, an American couple met Jala and the children and sponsored the education of four.
The couple regularly visits Banaras and is in constant touch with the children. All the four are now studying at a private boarding school in Saranath. Two are learning dance. One is studying English and computer. 300 other lives too are changing.
This is not the first instance of Jala changing lives of kids through his documentaries. His feature-length documentary ‘Floating Lamp of the Shadow Valley’ was about a 10-year-old boatman in the Dal Lake. He was the son of an ex-militant and the sole breadwinner of a six-member family. Jala and his friends are now taking care of education of this boy.
A native of Kashmir, Jala describes himself as a victim of terrorism. “I belong to a minority community, Kashmiri Pandit. The whole community was uprooted in 1990s and my family had to spend life in a camp in Delhi for 8-9 years,” he said. He says there are more stories to tell about Kashmir.
Jala is currently doing documentaries for Doordarshan, the money from which he saves for his next documentary. TV documentaries support him to live as a professional filmmaker. “I used all my money for ‘Children of the Pyre’. Some of my friends helped me financially. But I have to repay that. Thankfully, it won so much acclaim that I have got recognition in national and international festivals,” he said.
Jala refutes the criticism that filmmakers like him are selling poverty to the international audience. “I make film about humanity and inequality. They say India is shining. India is shining only for a small section of people. Others are suffering. I want their voices to be heard. This is about changing the perception of society,” he said.
jisha@expressbuzz.com