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Their city of joy

Jean-Marie and Elena have fallen in love with the city and its quiet rhythm, writes Anupama R

TWO TO TANGO Jean-Marie and Eléna say that Thiruvananthapuram is an interesting mix of the traditional and the modern

"Enikku oru glass chaya venam (I want a glass of tea)," says Jean-Marie, as proof of the Malayalam he has learnt in the two months spent in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the city with his wife, Eléna, Jean-Marie is filming a documentary on Francophones in Thiruvananthapuram for Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum as part of the Francophonie celebrations held the world over in the third week of March.

Documentary

"We decided to do interviews of people who speak French here, asking them why they speak this language and what pleasure they find in doing so," says Jean-Marie. Though this is the first project with the Alliance Francaise, the couple has worked with the French Institute on some apartment theatre projects in Greece. Eléna, an artiste whose forte is theatre and puppetry, says their work is "pluridisciplinary," involving video clips, theatre and puppetry.

A film director by profession, Jean-Marie plans to stay in the city for a year, working on theatre and video projects.

Having travelled around the world, the couple recently did a documentary on Tokyo and Mumbai that confronts the two Asian megalopolises. This will be screened in Thiruvananthapuram in April.

Fascinated by the slow rhythm of the city, the couple decided to stay on. They have rented a house in Jagathy. Eléna who has visited Kochi and learnt Kathakali three years ago, was sure she wanted to be in Kerala.

Says Eléna, "If we come to India, I told Jean-Marie we must go to Kerala which is sometimes known as the Switzerland of India. Since we have an 18 month-old baby boy, Costa, we wanted a place where we could work without affecting the family, where there are no water or sanitation problems.

"Kerala is rich in education and culture. And we like this city because it is the capital and so everything is available. At the same time, it is not Mumbai or Kolkata," adds Eléna.

The two months they have spent here have helped them accept and appreciate some of the local practices.

"Close to where we stay, there is a temple. During the temple festival, they play loud music at 5 a.m.... we don't complain. We just accept it," she says.

To the couple, Thiruvananthapuram is an interesting mix of the traditional and modern where you have on the one hand, arranged marriages and on the other, women who ride motorcycles. Ardent fans of Kerala cuisine, the husband and wife team like dosas, idlis and payasams in addition to puri and parottas.

"We are vegetarians, so the ample vegetables dishes in Kerala cuisine fits us," says Jean-Marie.

Another reason why they chose this city is "there are no tourists here, like in Fort Kochi or Kovalam," explains Jean-Marie. "We are not interested in beach resorts, but in the people and the way they live," he says.

As part of this quest, they also plan to make a documentary on Theyyam, an art form relatively less known than Kathakali in France.

"The people who practise Theyyam are mostly from the rural areas. We find it interesting that once they don the costumes, they become Gods," says Jean-Marie. Keen to make local artistes a part of their projects, the couple wants to see Theyyam "through the performer's eye."

Malayalam lessons

In order to understand the local life and culture better, the couple is taking Malayalam lessons. In fact, language is an important aspect of their work - the absence and the presence of it.

"The documentary on Mumbai and Tokyo has no language. We wanted people all over the world to understand it without the barrier of language," says Jean-Marie.

"We want to show it in India where there are so many languages," adds Eléna.

Interestingly, they are, at the same time, working on the Alliance Francaise project - a documentary that showcases the French language outside France. (Their website, www.apartca.com gives a comprehensive idea of their work and impressions.)

For this French couple, there are interesting times ahead. For Thiruvananthapuram too.

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