A girl studying in a government school in rural Tamil Nadu died a sudden death without any known cause. During the postmortem, they found tiny deposits of fecal matter in between her tissue particles and in her blood. She would delay answering nature’s call as both her house and the school she studied in, didn’t’t have any toilet facilities. She had to go to the wilds to do the job and this was a big aversion for her. Prolonged delay of not excreting properly resulted in her fecal waste becoming poisonous to her own body leading to her death. There are many such similar stories of deaths, diseases, or ailments around us due to lack of proper sanitation facilities especially in government schools.
The story of this little girl was one such story that deeply affected Vishu Priya. This pursed her to search for a solution to such sanitation problems and consequently, to other domestic waste problems. She has been on this journey for the past 8 years. Vishnu Priya, an architect by profession hails from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She has graduated from a reputed Institute for architecture in Chennai. During one of her initial visits to Cuckoo Forest School is when she heard this story of this little girl’s death and it was from there, that her life took a different path for her.
She was about to go abroad to pursue her masters in architecture but this one story moved her deeply that she dropped the idea of doing her master’s abroad. Since then, she has been extensively travelling across India to understand the various parameters of sanitation and a possible tangible solution to the varied problems on ground. During her travels, she could not get herself to believe the stories she witnessed and decided to document them with the help of a few friends. This idea slowly grew to become a documentary film, “MEEL”.
Meel, a solution-orientated documentary talks holistically about the idea of waste, and sanitation in India and solutions that is possible both at a system level and at the level of an individual’s habitual behavior. Meel traverses across different landscapes of India from documenting a model sanitation village in Trichy to a traditional dry toilet of Ladakh. Meel also showcases interviews of varied stakeholders involved in the system of waste from the municipal workers who segregate waste with their bare hands to bureaucratic officials who are involved in policy making. Meel also serves as an archive for varied traditional practices of ecological sanitation, unique experiments in sanitation and waste, and varied possibilities of solutions that have been tried across India.
As part of MEEL, there is also a music single – “Kuppai MEEL pattu” which is curated and composed by artist Bindhu Malini. It showcases the idea of waste generation by humans and its effects on other species. This foot-tapping and sing-along song raises a timeless question to the human species on waste, seeking answers for generations to come. MEEL thus is a documentary that showcases not only the problems but also gives hope through tangible solutions. One such solution that has been showcased in the film is the construction of an eco-san toilet for the existing boys’ hostel at a Government school in Nellivasal, a tribal hamlet in the Javaddhu hills, Tirupattur district of Tamilnadu. This eco-san toilet designed and built with the help of Architect Micheal and other friends is one among the possible solutions for sanitation, documented in this documentary, which can become a model for government schools across India in the coming years.
There was also a ‘Design + Build’ competition announced as a part of the documentary to facilitate more such solutions of ecological Sanitation. The competition received varied responses from several different architecture schools across India, each one of them identifying context and a feasible solution that addresses a larger intention. The board of Jury members were from different disciplines across India and had helped nominate entries among the varied proposals. MEEL will be facilitating the construction of these two nominated proposals of students
In the words of Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, a prominent academician and an architect who has been in the practice of architecture for the past 40 years, “Apart from being a documentary which gives a tangible solution to sanitation this also serves as a means for several budding architectural designers to relook at the intention of their profession. And also at a larger level questions the idea of architectural education and institutionalization of architecture.” The premier of MEEL will be released by Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya along with his keynote address on waste, at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology, CEPT University, Ahmedabad on 12th January 2024. CEPT is one of the most reputed institutions of architecture established by Prof. B.V. Doshi with a legacy of 60 years.
This documentary being released in CEPT would also serve as an inspiration for many young architects to perceive and look at the idea of architecture from varied perspectives. Along with the premier screening, there is also a photography showcase of the works of Sudhakar Olwe, Senthil Kumaran, and Thiagarajan R. who have been documenting waste in their creative forms. In the continuation of the premier, MEEL would be screened in different schools and colleges across India not only to spread awareness but also to make the next generation a conscious consumer. This journey of MEEL for the past 8 years encompasses varied stories and emotions with the hope to not only sow seeds of self-awareness but also to make an impact at policy level.
May all that we consider waste turn into HOPE.