Journalism of Courage
Arjun Kamath, hailing from Bengaluru and currently studying Film and Television in Los Angles, has been putting up his photostory called 'Avani' on Facebook for over a month now uploading one or two pictures a day and people were anxiously waiting for each update. Shot over three days in Coorg in January this year, Avani's is a poignant tale of a woman caught in patriarchy and a society that still considers girl child a bane. The 29-year-old photographer's photostory is made strictly for social media and has inevitably gone viral. "It's not a gospel truth I am telling. I am just trying to make people think and talk about it using my skill," says Kamath. "It's like watching a film, liking it and talking about it. The difference is that the photographs stay with you for longer," he adds. Kamath believes, through his photostories like 'Avani' and 'Coming Out' (that had gone viral in 2015), he's taking little steps towards a better tomorrow by initiating a dialogue. "The society is changing but there are so many rural pockets in the country where a male child is preferred and nobody can deny that," he says. Avani's story is set in a fictional village in central India called Pravadh along the stream called Vimala. A primitive community as it is, Avani is a strong-willed girl who wants to study and even set up a school; has loving parents but succumb to the society and decide to get her married. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani's parents started looking for a groom for her. Aadisesha, son of Sayan's -one of the most wealthy families in Pravadh- was the most eligible bachelor.(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani's family, Mistla's, did not have enough money but as Aadisesha saw a very beautiful Avani, he decided to marry her despite his step-mother Guru Tai against the alliance because the girl didn't bring enough dowry. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Aadisesha, for whom the girl, at this point, is nothing but one of her demands fulfilled stands still at the mantap. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
The two finally get married. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani can't bear leaving behind her parents and going to an unknown place and an unknown family. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani leaves with her husband while her parents-in-law count the dowry they have received. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Guru Tai starts ill-treating Avani in her own house. The girl, habitual of performing puja in her own house, prepares for it when Tai comes and asks her to massage her legs. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani comes to the front yard and after realizing no one is around, she decides to pray. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Aadisesha notices how her mother ill-treated Avani and feels guilty. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Tai shouts at Avani for having to perform the puja while Aadisesha is out into the woods unaware of what's happening. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani decides to walk out of the house to make sense of what was happening and entered the woods where a mother wolf was looking for her next prey. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani would do anything to protect her family. She killed the wolf.(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Aadisesha is grateful to Avani for protecting her and asks him to take the credit for it on returning because Avani did not want her husband to feel weak in front of the village and for her, his safety was of utmost importance. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
On return, Guru Tai emerged from the house’s ancient arches holding an elaborate, handmade aarti thali. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
The Pravadhi men danced, threw colors in the air, and drenched themselves in alcohol as Tai lovingly applied a tilak to her son’s forehead. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Months passed and Avani continued the same routine of waking up and indulging in household chores. One fine morning, Tai was unwell and asked Avani to perform Tulsi puja. In Tai's absence, Aadisesha helped Avani in her chores. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Suddenly, Avani fainted and before she could fall, Aadisesha held her in his arms. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani whispered to Aadisesha that she was pregnant. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
He couldn't contain his happiness. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Guru Tai diligently trusted Mukaddeswar or Mukh baba, Pravadh’s chief astrologer, to know if the baby was a girl or a boy. The astrologer asked her to stay away from Avani till his next visit. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Meanwhile, Aadisesha showered all his love on Avani. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani got really tired of staying inside four walls of that house and requested her husband to take her out. The two went into the forest. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani went into labour while the two were lost in their own happy world. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Little girl Surya was born and their happiness knew no bounds. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
When they came home to seek Guru Tai's blessing, she cursed Avani and the newborn but Aadisesha stood with his wife and daughter and left the house. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
The entered the woods looking for some peace. Aadisesha felt guilty for having to put Avani through all this but “I have you, I have Surya, there’s nothing more I want in this world,” she says. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
To distract themselves from reality, Aadisesha dances in front his wife and daughter. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani requests for water and Aadisesha heads to Vimala river to get water for her. He hated leaving Avani and Surya alone in the forest, but with Avani completely dehydrated and aching for something to drink, he didn’t have any other choice. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Anxious Avani hugged Surya to her bosom to calm her, and then closed her eyes; the Lord’s name on her lips, she secretly prayed that Aadi would return soon. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
While Avani and Aadi were dancing with little Surya in the Kashyapi, Tai had been planning murder. As they closed in on Avani, she gestured to her men to surround Avani from all sides. But, as soon as Avani heard the sound of a branch breaking underfoot, she opened her eyes at once and clutched Surya to her chest. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani suddenly felt her body fill with an overwhelming, almost spiritual strength, the men’s grip on her weakened. Inexplicably, they were tiring and Avani was ready to make her move. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Avani gathered all the force in her body, and with a wild grunt, she jerked her left shoulder violently and struck the jaw of the man on her left side and ran. Before Tai could realize what had happened and before the men on the ground could even rise to their feet, Avani darted into the woods with Surya, jumping over fallen trees and maneuvering through huge rocks. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Tai's men found her again and caught hold of her. They kept hitting her on Tai's orders. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
(Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
On the other hand, she had ordered her men to take Aadisesha to Kaal Kutir, a dungeon on the outskirts of Pravadh where people who were possessed by evil spirits were thrown. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Tai takes the baby from Avani's hands and placed Surya on the hard Kashyapi ground. That's when Avani starts smiling. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Tai stamped the skull of the kid and Avani's smile changes into laughter. Angry Tai asks why she is laughing and discovers instead of baby Surya, there were only sticks and stones wrapped in a cloth. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Tai consistently asks for the baby but Avani refuses to tell. "You will never find Surya!" she shouted, "Not you, not your men, nobody!" Avani breathes her last on the ground Kashyapi ground. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
Little Surya is found by a childless couple the neighboring village of Bandhumati after Avani manages to prepare a make-shift raft and set Surya afloat. After Avani had attacked Tai’s men with the sharp stones, they had tumbled to the ground in a heap, wailing and screaming in distress and pain. That was when Avani had taken advantage of the distraction and turned sharply to hide behind a huge boulder. For a brief interlude, there was not a man to be seen. That's when Avani decided to make this move. (Photo courtesy: Arjun Kamath)
