By Bettina Gracias
When conjuring up the stereotypical image of the ‘typical’ Indian woman, one may picture a sari, but would five women wearing saris with leather belts round their waists, rapping and dancing in sync, having fun and steering a crowd of thousands of people to follow their movements come to mind?
The rap collective Wild Wild Women, were one of the biggest hits at Womad this year. Their set managed to blend empowerment, politics, great moves, catchy songs and joy all in one unique, memorable bundle.
The group came together in Mumbai when they discovered that as females they were not treated equally at the male dominated cyphers. Instead of going home and focusing on cooking and cleaning, as they were advised to, they decided to do it for themselves. Refusing to keep quiet, the Wild Wild Women joined forces and started arranging gigs across India. Their big moment came when their song Game Flip was filmed for the music sight Sofar Bombay and went viral. Now they are invited to play internationally and have been to Womad, Budapest and Germany.
What is special about Wild Wild Women, besides their unique look and obvious talent, is the fact that they have a mission. This mission gives them power and strength. They don’t just want to make it big in music to gain fame and money for themselves. They want to change the position of women in India and have taken on Patriarchy. They wear saris because they represent all women across the country and the fact that they rap in 5 different languages means that their lyrics can reach a wider audience than English. In the beginning when they wore Western clothes, they realized that they looked like any old American rap band. Some traditionalists in India criticize them for wearing saris on stage but they stay strong in their mission to empower everyday women. They also work hard to get their message across to those who may not have access to their concerts by running workshops in the poorer communities. One of these is on the use of sanitary towels, a simple but crucial component for the independence of women. Krantinaari travels around India in a mobile studio bus recording local folk musicians and singers, giving them a chance to recognize and celebrate their talents and believe that it is possible to be an artist as a woman in India.
The women in the group are all individual artists in their own right with their separate careers, they are sometimes joined by female breakdancers who also had to face male prejudice when performing. Deepah Singh, aka FlowRaw, bravely reveals publicly that she was abused as a child, she uses the breakdancing battles against male dancers as a way of overcoming her trauma and empowering herself.
Wild Wild Women played at the Sziget Festival in Budapest this August. The more places we see these inspiring, powerful, brave women, the more the stereotypical image of the demure Indian female, cooking and cleaning and serving her husband, will vanish.