Unconstructed Freedom
by Chacko Jacob – kanthari catalyst
I joined kanthari as a catalyst two weeks after the 11th generation of kantharis started the course. Having gotten to know this generation and a few alumni well, I sometimes look through the profiles of kantharis from the past 10 generations and wonder what their personalities are like, what makes them tick as social changemakers, or even what their sense of humour would be like.
My first encounter with Kapila Rasnayaka’s eccentric world was a video shown to me by a colleague, “Check this out, Kapila went viral!”. We watched as Kapila performed a silly, slightly bizarre number titled “coconut tree song”. Some of us laughed, some of us cringed, but no one could look away from this strangely intriguing absurdity. I thought, “Is this a ploy to go viral in the same vein us “what does the fox say?” or “apple pen?”.
Then I encountered his “instructional” videos. How to sleep, how to wake up, how to attach the detachment, how to eat fruits with love. Okay, sure. More quirky stuff. I watched on as he demonstrated how to wake up (the key is to open your eyes), hugged trees, and made passionate oral love to pieces of fruit. At this point there wasn’t a visible method to this madness. Is this someone looking for attention? Someone trying to entertain people? It sure is entertaining, but you never get a sense that all this is just for attention. Then what is it really for?
I found a glimpse of what this man is all about in a birthday congratulations to himself on Instagram:
“Happy birthday to me and you are fantastic person in this world, You born for a reason and you are doin it well. Serious world is too painful and you coolest sexiest tempo is really worth for others. Play more and be Abnormal Kapila .. you are my love and I’ll give you good time Kapila today and tomorrow and past. Love you Kapila ummmmma and be like Kapila .. You are my Corona baby 🍼 star ⭐️ ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”
I slowly realize that what you see is what you get with this guy. If he is silly, it is because he doesn’t believe in taking himself seriously. The rambling videos in nonsensical languages and performing unspeakable acts to fruit are all signs of someone who couldn’t care less of what people think of him. His life seems to be a demonstration of what it’s like to operate completely outside of all social constructs.
Things began to make even more sense when I watched How to CUT Mango & Society and How to understand coconut and education.
At kanthari we have a week dedicated to barriers to change, where the participants identify various groups of people that need to experience a mindset shift for the project to be successful. These groups could include the beneficiaries themselves, government, corporations, local community members etc.
In order to be someone who can make others overcome barriers to change, you yourself have to be someone who
– thinks for themselves and is free of prejudices.
– can identify superstitious or false and damaging beliefs
– empathises with people who don’t share your beliefs and thinks beyond personal interest
Kapila is like the Trojan Horse of overcoming barriers to change. He comes in this clothing of a wholesome but disorienting entertainer. In the course of his madness, he makes you question social constructs. The point of a video like How to CUT Mango & Society is certainly not to explore all the nuances of toxic masculinity or gender constructs and beat the truth into you, it is to plant the seed of doubt in the people stuck in these structures: to expose the silliness and absurdity of it all. The absurdity of a list of do’s and don’ts that society gives you based on tradition, class, the colour of your skin or the kind of genitals you’re born with.
Kapila is the founder of Voices of Humans, an initiative that does workshops, theatre plays, and videos on breaking free of stereotypes and questioning the status quo in fun, artistic and creative ways. He also runs the Genderless Jungle, a centre where the participants experience primitive life in nature, meditate to the sound of babbling streams, and camp under the stars on the Knuckles mountain range in Sri Lanka. What do any of those activities have to do with gender? Exactly. Nothing at all. Genderless Jungle is where people live a life based on the identity of being Human and reject socially constructed gender roles.
More about him and his work can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/voicesofhumans/
http://www.facebook.com/genderlessjungle/
http://www.youtube.com/user/kapila124
Wooooooooow! This is really amazing article and I was busy last few weeks. Today I got my free day after long time from social contracts and make my so happy when I see your article. Much appreciate and lot to do . We need real craziness to do changers in real world 🌎 . Thank you so much for this wonderful thoughts and you did good research to fine me. Don’t stop … find me my whole life… you will enjoy and you will live without fear about social construction 🚧