First let me explain - 'The Barani Festival'. It is a rare local festival in India (Kerala -- Kodungalloore) held in a Temple, which is now a tourist spot. The deity of this temple is worshipped with vulgar & sexual song. It is based on a belief that the deity at the temple loves to hear its praises in vulgar language. The only one of its kind I think in the world and still existing. Officials are trying to stop this festival because there are reports of mass groping during the festival. The day of the Barani is like giving license to the drunkards and gropers.
During old times - the time when virgins were first given to landlord before marriage, the festival were celebrated by all including Men, Women & Children with ardent faith by singing the sexual and vulgar songs, but as the Modern era swept the world the festival turned out to 'just an old tradition'. The faith all lost and the festival turning out to just an old tradition saw its problems.
Foremost was the advent of 'Women Societies' development that demanded equal rights & freedom and doing all the things men do including their dressing. To the modern women this type of festival was barbarian and they began to avoid it. Though women folk began to avoid participating by singing they still were present in the temple during the festival time. The vulgar and sexual songs turned out to be embarrassing to the women folk especially when the men were drunk and singing with meaningful action towards them. With all the sexual songs & intoxication, grope was just a call away.
No one knows how and when the groping started. It is said that once when a girl came to the temple to call her father, a singer near her groped her. Everyone was drunk and the father was inebriated and the girl getting groped in between the hot song made the situation slapstick. That single laugh was like a license to all. Others too joined in for fun to grope the girl as she fled. In another version it is said the father groped his daughter and others joined in. Anyhow with all the sexual songs & intoxication, grope was just the next natural thing.
By late 70s women began to avoid it as slowly stories began to spread that only those who wanted a good grope would come. Still some would come to check the story or see the festival and they would get groped. The funny thing was that none of the groped girls got angry and they left smiling or teasing the men. This again gave the men a boost to grope; especially even if a woman complained of the grope the question to her would be 'Why did you go there?' So groping began to get accepted. It began to be known that during the festival if you groped a woman there would be no action even if a complaint were lodged. People made sure that girls of their families never went there during that day.
The song to the deity itself will make women blush.
The song is sung in Verses accompanied by the famous lines
'Thaan aro thanaro thana, Thaan aro thanaro' sung in chorus.
For example one of the Part converted to English is as follows:
"Thaan aro thanaro thana,
Thaan aro thanaro
When the Kodungalloore Goddess tried to open a coconut with a Para
The Para missed and entered the Goddess's pussy.
Hey! Thaan aro thanaro thana,
Thaan aro thanaro."
(Para is a spear like object yet not so pointed, used to remove the hard skin on the coconut. The para is fixed in the ground. This is one of the mild songs. Just think of the others.)
At the initial stage when the young girls were banned by their families from going to the festivals there were grumbling because most of the men did not mention the reason they did not want their daughter or sister or even wife around the temple during the festival. They simply forbade. Naturally this aroused a lot of curiosity in the teenage group and they went in-group to the temple area to see the forbidden festival. Some learnt the hard way but soon the stories spread and all the young girls knew the reason. As the groping grew beyond bounds in the 80's women avoided the Festival but still stood around in groups listening and watching. But soon the drunkards took the streets after the festival and groped the women. In 1990 the women abandon the streets on the festival day. Now there are complaints that after the festival some people go to the nearby houses and trouble the women, which is why the officials are thinking to ban the Festival. A festival which started out in faith turned to a grope festival and if not stopped now may turn into a rape festival.
My mom was one of the curious cats who went with her friends to see the festival at the beginning of the forbidding period. One of her classmate told me the story which I stat below.
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My mom was the unluckiest person I have ever known.
Mom was very sexy and beautiful. Her boobs used to wobble even when she walked. Her firm soft ass, slim waist made everyone wish for a grab. Yet she avoided men, maybe because all men molested her. Even relation was not a barrier. From the moment of her blossom till today she has been avoiding sexual advances. She used to shy away from men and take extra caution to avoid them if she was alone especially when they were drunk, but the funniest part is she is the most sexually abused person I have ever known. She was first molested during the Barani Festival. The next was when she was teens, then right after marriage and later when I was young she was groped in the bus (Told in 'In a bus with Mom & Sis') The Bachelor Party saw her being again used for sexual lust by her relatives (The Bachelor Party) Later I had a go - on her (Me, Mom & Uncles). These are just the main incidents of her life. There are others short and long.
I got to know of her early life incidents through Jahan -- he was a drunk and an old friend of mom or should I say lover. What happened between them is still not known. Both were good friends and abruptly one day she wouldn't talk to him. Later on Jahan was seen with Reshma & Kaveri both friends of mom and ultimately he married Kaveri.
My cousin's friend introduced Jahan to me. Jahan used to tell his sexual tales to us and sometimes he would point out the girls to us to prove his point. I got a shock when one day he pointed to my mom and aunt. I confronted Jahan when he was alone he at once apologized and said he had told all lies. Later on as I grew up Jahan was my best friend in the village though the age separated us.
It was on the day of my 20th birthday he changed my life. He took me to one of his lover's house. He was drunk. He went to the next room with her leaving me with her daughter. We talked and ended up in bed and pushed off before the couples came out. When they came out we were still talking. He told me that all he had told me of my mom was true and fearing that I would tell it to the elders he had said it was all lies. The news did not strike me as it had then. I had heard rumors and putting two and two together I had got quite a story from others. The Barani story I think is the root of all happenings. This is the incident, which changed her character.
During mom's teenage-days the groping were just beginning. Word was around not to let women and children but the reasons were not specified. Educational institutions especially the ones nearby were closed. So naturally there was a curiosity in the teenage section.
Mom was one such cat. She along with her friends decided to go and see from a safe distance. Many of the boys they knew were there, so to see their dance and to tease them later was the idea.
The temple has a turning where there was a huge farm, which had a small way in its side connecting the temple and school normally used by the school. There was a particular curve on the wall design and so if you stood in the middle of the way and looked you could see and hear whatever was going on in the temple.
Mom and her friends gathered there. They could hear the shouting clearly and they were pointing out the boys to each other. So deeply engrossed were they that they did not notice two drunkards come behind. By the time they heard them they were very near. With a start all of them turned. They saw a fat & thin person. The girls did not yet know the groping theme, so they were only frightened that they would get scolding for being there.
The men shouted amiably asking what they were doing with a teasing look. They were blocking the exit. The girls had the choice of other exit in front of the temple, which was a big 'NO' to them. They pushed them and ran off smiling. The men in a blissful mood ran after them, caught four of them near the school and led to the classroom.
In the old days classrooms was actually a big hall divided into different partitions by curtains or plywood on all four sides. The partition was quite like modern day offices giving an individual cabin to all. Each partition was a class. There was no covering on the top head of the teachers could be seen outside. An old joke was that if the head was not seen the principal would come to enquire what happened so the teachers would always stand stiff to show they were there. There were no doors but just an opening to the room. The school premises would be deserted after 6.00 pm. It was a great setup for the drunkards & drug addicts to do their business after 7.00pm especially in those days there were no watchmen. Since that day was a holiday the school was desolate from morning itself.