CRIME AND REDEMPTION

CRIME AND REDEMPTION 25 Jan 2009, 0050 hrs IST Text: CHENNAI: Some spend their time plotting to break out of prison or pine away for life in the real world, others pick up pen and paper and write about it. Over the course of history, revolutionaries and leaders from Malcolm X to Jawaharlal Nehru have used their time behind bars to write powerful literature. While they many not be in the same league, Tamil Nadu's 134 prisons too are full of inmates who are busy painting, writing, raising gardens, writing exams, doing yoga and learning a trade. "The idea is to keep inmates busy as well as teach them a skill that will help them get employment once they complete their term," says Director General of Police (Prisons) R Nataraj. "Many of them are very good with handiwork and are eager to learn," he says. From file covers, textiles and candles to baking and manufacturing zinc sheets and buckets, inmates of the state's prisons create products worth about Rs 3 crore every year. "And we can easily make upto Rs 10 crore a year if we focused on improving vocational training and marketing," says Nataraj. Prisoners are paid Rs 45 to Rs 60 a day, depending on their skill, and a portion of these earnings go to the victims' families. Apart from activities planned by the government, prisoners find jail a place that sparks off their creativity. One of the judges of a recent contest prison authorities conducted during Pongal says the gardens maintained by the prisoners in the high-security block would give any slick city landscaping architect a run for his money. "Such lovely flowers in well-laid out plots. The inmates have a lot of creativity and talent," he says. "The paintings on the walls of cells are also very beautiful. There was one undertrial who had painted an entire landscape from floor to ceiling water, land, trees, flowers, animals and birds, and the sky," he says. Authorities too say they are often surprised by the creativity prisoners display, most of whom are lifers convicted of serious crimes. "You can see wonderful paintings on the walls of the cells, many of which are devotional in nature. Contrary to public perception, these are people with soul and this is their way to express their emotions, in some cases even remorse," says V Kannadasan, special public prosecutor, Human Rights Court, and former advocate of state prisons. He talks about a prisoner in the Coimbatore jail who would sketch people who passed by his cell. "He was very fast. If we find that the prisoners are truly interested, we provide them paints, pencils, paper and other things they need." Nataraj says they have been encouraging inmates to try their hand at abstract art as well, which he wants to publish in the newly-launched prison magazine Ul Oli'. "They seem to prefer landscapes and religious themes, but I've been telling them to try drawing other things as well," he says. "I hoping to get an exhibition of prisoners' paintings organised in Lalit Kala Academy," he adds. "Creative pursuits help channel their rage. They are people who are angry with society, and they are being confined in a place that could increase these feelings," he says. It was the well-drafted representations he received from prisoners that convinced him to start Ul Oli'. "They have good language skills and some are very well educated. Poetry, stories, sketches ... once I asked for contributions, I got enough to fill at least six issues," he says. The number two accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case Chinna Santhan, who is now on the editorial board of Ul Oli', used to edit a literary magazine that was circulated among the inmates of Vellore jail. "It was a handwritten magazine. And we were amazed by the skill some inmates had in calligraphy," says Nataraj. Another inmate who's been writing tirelessly in prison, churning out both fiction and non-fiction books, is Dr L Prakash, serving life for an internet pornography case. "Prakash says he is aiming for a record for the most number of books written while in prison," Nataraj says, pulling out a copy of Glimpses of Vedic Wisdom' that the author presented him. "I have not had time to read it, but he has been writing a lot," says the official, who maintains a blog as well as writes articles and short stories. Music is also a large part of prison life. Kannadasan talks about a music director who is currently in Puzhal. "We allowed him access to instruments. So now he organises a number of programmes and cultural events. They really enjoy themselves," he says. A programme was also held at Puzhal recently as part of the Chennai Sangamam festival. "Such things painting, music, writing are good for the environment of the prison," says Kannadasan. "There is less anger and the feeling that their talent is being encouraged," he says.

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