Kerala Kala Samithi as a Community of Choice
Aishwarya, Amina, Lakshmi & Uma
This project explores the organisation based on the Malayali ethnic community in IIT Madras called the Kerala Kala Samithi or KKS. The project attempts a postcolonial study of KKS as a community of choice. It examines the aspects of spatiality, identity and ideology with regard to KKS. The project has accomplished this task with the help of a video, article, and podcast.
“IIT Madras, affectionately or otherwise called by its student body as Insti, boasts over two thousand undergraduate students, four thousand postgraduate students, about three thousand research scholars, and more than five hundred faculty members. With a common entrance exam called the JEE for undergraduate students and GATE for postgraduate students, IIT Madras admits students from all over India, consequently creating a cultural milieu constituting people from different parts, regions, states, and union territories of India. In addition to this are NRIs, foreign exchange students, masters students and research scholars from abroad, and faculty from all over India and the world. In this way, IIT Madras in its more than 600 acre campus in the middle of the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu has created a postcolonial multicultural and cosmopolitan space inhabited by people from different regional and cultural backgrounds, united by their joint goal of pursuing education.
However, in this heterogeneous space, there are several communities of choice consisting of like-minded people or people with shared identities. Communities like the Marathi Mitra Mandal and Telugu Samskruthika Samiti are organisations based on ethnic communities in Insti. Another example of this, a community based on the ethnic identity of Malayalis in Insti is Kerala Kala Samiti. People from Kerala form a minority in the student body, especially in the technical departments, as well as the faculty members. Established in 1965, Kerala Kala Samiti, as described in its official Facebook page, has made its mission to be the pillar upholding the culture of Kerala and its people living on the campus. Throughout an academic year, KKS cements its position on the campus via four major official functions – “Varavelp”, a welcome event for the new admittees; Onam celebration, an event celebrating the harvest festival of Kerala; “Kerala Piravi”, an event celebrating the establishment of Kerala as a state; and “Greeshma Sandhya”, a farewell event for the year’s graduates.”
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
IIT Madras is a vibrant residential campus that allows students to flourish both personally and professionally. Campus life at IIT Madras is not just about classrooms, libraries and labs. There are several opportunities for students to pursue their favorite activities, refine their skills and discover new talents and interests. The campus is a constant buzz of varied activities and events - academic, co-curricular and extracurricular.