Discover upcoming stories of survival, from palm trees to the sea

The Learning Community at Quest in Besant Nagar is all set to transform into a living tapestry of stories, of salt and sea, tree, and toddy, song and soil. Porombokkiyal 2025: A People’s Symposium on the Arts, Sciences & Scientists of the Commons happens tomorrow, inviting you to spend the day listening, learning, and sharing with those whose everyday lives are deeply entwined with the landscapes they sustain.

At Porombokkiyal 2025, the commons take centre stage in Chennai

In Tamil, poromboke means the commons, lands and waters that belong to everyone, and to no one. Porombokkiyal, then, is the study of these shared worlds, of livelihoods, knowledges, and art forms born from them. Tomorrow, the symposium brings together voices that often go unheard in mainstream conversations: palmyra climbers, fisherwomen, Irula gatherers, instrument makers, and children. Through conversations, demonstrations, and performances, you’ll see how expertise is lived, not just learned.

The morning opens with The Palmyra: Tapping the Tree of Plenty, a conversation with D. Pandian and Pa. Harris Karishma, moderated by environmental and social activist J. Prasanth. Pandian, who began climbing at twelve, now leads movements to protect the palmyra and revive livelihoods rooted in it. “If a tree goes,” Prasanth says, “its biodiversity, culture, and medicine go with it. People like Pandian are working to recover that.” He adds, “The palms give more than just leaves or toddy, they hold stories, livelihoods, and knowledge. Removing obstacles to their growth is not just environmental work, it’s cultural preservation.”

Karishma, one of Tamil Nadu’s few women climbers, has turned her skill into empowerment, training others, crafting with palm leaves, and reshaping a tradition that once excluded women. Prasanth notes, “From her perspective as a young climber, Karishma shows how women can inherit and transform tradition, connecting heritage to a new generation.”

By late morning, the focus shifts to Whatte Karuvaadu: Women, Labour and the Sea, featuring fisherwomen S. Saratha and V. Thangamani, in conversation with K. Saravanan and Dhaarani. Both have spent decades sustaining coastal economies through their work with fish, auctioning, drying, vending, while facing threats of eviction. Prasanth observes, “These women remind us that the commons are lived, not just legal spaces. Their work is care, skill, and resilience all at once.”

Post-lunch, Sacred Poromboke brings Irula gatherers Kannammal Soriyan and Pappal Jikkan to the stage, exploring rituals, forest produce, and ancestral wisdom guided by Uma Maheshwari. Then, in Dead Beat: How to Make Leather Sing!, mridangam maker Antony Sowriyar joins artist Praveen Sparsh and musician T. M. Krishna to reveal the craft behind every beat, a reminder that art, too, is a commons.

The day closes with Oru Voru La Oru Aaru, a performance by the children of Arunodhaya. “Theatre exists in the now,” says Bhargav Prasad, who helped guide the process. “It’s a co-creation that invites audiences to imagine futures different from the ones we’re building.” He adds, “Young people notice details adults often miss, the rivers, the canals, the everyday spaces that shape the city. Theatre lets them question, reflect, and create conversations adults rarely have.” On the creation process, he explains, “By emotionally mapping their neighbourhoods, they learn that the city is not just concrete and traffic, it is nature, memory, and livelihood. Their work asks audiences to see it afresh.”

Across dialogues, sounds, and songs, Porombokkiyal 2025 tomorrow invites everyone to listen deeply, to those who live closest to the land, whose knowledge and hands keep the commons alive. As Prasanth reminds us, “The symposium is proof that knowledge isn’t only in books or labs, it lives in hands, in labour, in the land itself.”

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