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Rajesh S. Jala’s powerful documentary triggers hopes of salvation for a bunch of
Varanasi’s sprawling Manikarnika cremation ground is revered by millions of Hindus who regard it as the gateway to heaven. But on the screen, it isn’t a pretty sight. Children of the Pyre, a powerful documentary by New Delhi filmmaker Rajesh S. Jala, presents a stark, unflinching yet humanist portrait of the profane behind these sanctified precincts. The film is making waves around the globe since its premiere last year at the Montreal World Film Festival, where it bagged the best documentary prize. It captures a strange admixture of the hallowed and the horrific, seen through the eyes of seven spunky boys whose benighted lives revolve around the dead that are brought to the banks of the Ganga for their last rites. The boys who feature in Children of the Pyre — their ages range from nine to 16 — have had their childhoods reduced to ashes. For them, life and death are but two sides of the same coin. That’s the way it has been ever since they’ve learnt to stand on their own feet.
The boys make a living by either cremating bodies or snatching the shrouds that cover the corpses. Each shroud fetches them Rs 2. It is recycled by local shopkeepers and sold again for anything between Rs 25 and Rs 30. "Their life depends on how many shrouds they can grab. They have to be on their toes all the time. Snatching a shroud from under the noses of the relatives requires quick thinking and electric reflexes," says Jala, who spent around a year and a half with the boys, closely observing their daily routine. Needless to say, every single day is a bitter struggle for survival here. The boys often sleep amid the burning pyres, smoke grass in order to ward off nightmares, and dream of escaping from this living hell one day. Speaking on camera, 15-year-old Ravi, the youngest cremation worker of Manikarnika, says: "Sometimes, we dream of corpses, their legs spread apart, burning. That scares us out of our minds." But escape isn’t a possibility yet. Children of the Pyre is not for the faint-hearted. The film abounds in shocking images. The ghastly scenes of burning limbs, Jala asserts, are essential. They serve to bring out the sheer dehumanisation inherent in the situation. In one particularly disquieting moment, two of the boys mock a half-burnt, semi-naked and unclaimed body by performing its last rites. The stench of death has numbed the boys — for them, the dead aren’t beyond ridicule. The urban filmmaker does not let his own refined and ruffled sensibility interfere with what the boys are up to: he merely records the nonchalance with which they flirt with the macabre. According to Jala, 30-odd children, all from the Dom community, are engaged in this ‘business of death’ in Manikarnika. Life has conditioned them to look upon death merely as a means of livelihood. Yogi, 11, sums it up: "I want more people to die so that I can get more shrouds." Jala discovered the story by accident. He says: "Two years ago, I decided to make a film on Varanasi. But this wasn’t what I had intended. But when I went there and saw these boys at the Manikarnika Ghat, my interest in them was aroused. I was struck by their indomitable spirit, their incredible ability to rise above their painful lives." Jala had to invest much time and toil in order to earn the confidence of these hardened boys and draw them out of their shells. "I lived with the children on and off, observing, following and filming them in the most harrowing place I have ever seen." The effort has paid off. Having done the rounds of many international film festivals, garnering awards and accolades, Children of the Pyre has now achieved a major breakthrough for Indian cinema, becoming the first-ever documentary from the subcontinent to be acquired for global distribution by Fortissimo Films. One of the world’s top international sales companies, Amsterdam-based Fortissimo Films has offices in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong. But there is more to the film than its international triumphs. Jala has tied up with the global charity organisation, Plan International, to initiate a rehabilitation plan for Varanasi’s Dom children. "Initially, I wanted to take up the cases of 25-30 boys, but Plan International has opted for a comprehensive long-term project for the entire community, which is made up of about 700 families," reveals Jala. Films as strong as this one do have the power to change lives. Jala is, however, quick to refuse the tag of an activist. "I am a filmmaker and that is what I will always be. But if an opportunity to make a meaningful difference to a segment of our society, I would be only too happy to intervene," he says.
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