Erumai Saani, a popular YouTube channel, recently released a video mocking ‘Pullingo’, a term popular on social media which makes fun of certain people’s choice of attire and appearance and has its origin from 'pullai' - which means 'son of'. The word is increasingly being used to mock the self-expression of young people from underprivileged sections, and stereotyping their activities as criminal or dangerous. After several objections on its casteist and classist undertones, the channel has pulled down the video. Singer and composer Tenma, who is part of the Casteless Collective, writes about why the trend and the video in particular needs to be called out.
Before I met director Pa Ranjith in person and started working with him, I went for a small exhibition where he was the guest at a photo exhibition. He talked about how the CBFC gave Madras an ‘A’ certificate because of their perception of the north Madras environment as a world filled with rowdies and gangsters. I was livid and shocked when I heard this from him.
I grew up in and around north Madras; Purusaiwalkam is my hood and Otteri was where my entire childhood was spent. My life unfolded over there with love and friendship from boys and girls from my area.
It was therefore extremely frustrating for me to sit through the video made by Erumai Saani, a popular YouTube channel, on “Pullingo” because it was casteist, crass and I felt like wearing a gas mask due to the amount of toxicity spewing from it.
The word “Pullingo” – which makes fun of certain young people’s clothing and hairstyle preferences (north Madras, to be specific) - has been the rage for the last few weeks, post the success of Gana Stephen’s ‘Gumbalaga Suthuvom’ and the song ‘Verithanam’ from Bigil. Things have turned sour and toxic with the labelling of a certain section of the population as ‘pullingo’. In fact, it has turned into a slur like the N- word for the blacks and the C-word for East Asian people.
Giving the video script a Bear Grylls format and turning it into a Pied Piper-ish trope was venomous and disgusting. It is clear that the makers wanted to jump on the trend wagon since “pullingo” has become a common word to evoke some giggles and laughs. Should we blame them alone or should we blame the people who liked the video and/or shared it? The problem lies with our privileged minds - that we fail to see the casteism in such situations. We end up saying “Ippellam yarunga Sathi pakura?” (Who sees caste these days?)
Half my band members have coloured hair and of late, every time we are present at events or go for shows, some person or the other approaches us with the word ‘pullingo’ in a derogatory way, as if they’re on a power trip. After putting out countless songs on equality, fraternity and humanity, when someone comes to us displaying this kind of attitude, it feels like they want to clearly establish a difference in the class of society where they come from and where we come from. Unfortunately they will deny that, but it's their laziness to understand the problem and the consequences which come from it.
Let's not get into how many carom players or boxing fighters have come out of north Madras or how it was called Black Town by the British or how this Singara Chennai has been built on the blood and sweat of the working class population from north Madras. This population has been abused and labelled for countless decades, they have been displaced to Kannagi Nagar to “beautify” Chennai; most of the garbage from your house will end up getting dumped in the canals of north Madras.
The slums destroyed overnight, children thrown out from their homes and yet, on top of all of these problems, you will see the widest smiles. But then again the smiles are ignored, the celebration is ignored, and all you can see is the coloured hair, Dio bike and the dialect.
Look at how reality shows operate. Most people on these shows speak in their own Tamil dialect when they speak to someone of their equal class privilege. But there is a tone change when you see a kid from north Madras who sings Gana songs. A question to them: do you feel they don't understand your Tamil or do you do this to establish your privilege?
There’s lots more to say, but coming back to the Eruma Sani video, I did not want to share it and trash it because it is clearly a marketing strategy that they have used; to use negativity for their promotion. Just remember that you have blood on your hands and that it's going to take a while to clean it. Just when the world is going through the slow process of becoming more humane and understanding towards different identities, this sort of mocking takes us back to the Stone Age. It’s on us to learn to forgive even though people are finding new ways to practice untouchability.
People will abuse and trash me for this because it bursts the bubble that they are living in. But, I’m just here to educate the insensitive about being sensitive.
People ask me everywhere
They say, is that really all your hair?
I just tell them it it ain't
Well it sho' don't mean that now I cain't'
Cause I just don't believe it's fair
To judge a man
By the length of his hair
- Larry Graham (Graham Central Station)
Tenma is a musician who is also part of the Casteless Collective, an anti-caste music band which questions social injustice.