Deep inside Mumbai’s last remaining jungle, Elijah Emmanuel is building a “kids’ hip-hop army." Could their raps about nature be the future of the Save Aarey protest movement?
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00:00There will be an army in R.A, a kid's army, they'll be the first layers of soldiers for
00:22them.
00:24We'll be really a nature activist, we'll speak sensible.
00:30Community was not happy, pelting stones at my house.
00:36This young boy, he continues to live in fear, fear for what?
00:39Why should he fear for his life?
00:50Real protest starts now.
00:54R.A Colony is one of the world's last surviving jungles, nestled in the heart of a megacity.
01:04Deep inside the forest, a young hip-hop scene is emerging as a form of protest.
01:09Brute journalist Neeti Upadhyay met with Elijah Emmanuel, an R.A native who is using rap
01:14to cultivate the next generation of activists.
01:24We'd go and tell them that we got so many problems, please save R.A.
01:30They're like, I have so many problems, what can I do?
01:36So, to make them understand, I felt that this is the smartest way.
01:41Art, music is a sensible way of emerging.
01:53Seware! Seware! Seware!
01:58When development projects threatened to cut through the jungle, Elijah joined the frontlines.
02:03But he was disappointed with the turnout from his own Tamil community.
02:07The outsiders have come a lot.
02:10The real Seware movement will be done by the people staying in R.A.
02:15During lockdown, Elijah left his job as a music teacher to dedicate his time to the neighbourhood kids.
02:20He and his friends are teaching beatboxing and writing raps about R.A. colony
02:25in the hopes that the messages will eventually sink in.
02:36I'm trying to give them the love for nature by introducing them to music.
02:43Why hip-hop?
02:45Because I believe in the powerful element in hip-hop, which is knowledge.
02:51In our area, the majority of the kids study in government school.
02:56And they do not have an online forum where they can be part of an online session or something like that.
03:03They have a lot of energy. They need to take it out, right?
03:07So I take them in the forest, like on a banyan tree.
03:16It's a tree of life.
03:18It's a secret spot for rap rowdies.
03:28Not a lot of people, like area crowd, come there.
03:31So it's easy for us to practice.
03:35We teach kids to be like rapping and beatboxing and being themselves.
03:42That's the main thing, like being ourselves.
03:48One, one, two, one, one, two, one.
03:58The kids were very smart and they were so advanced that they needed this kind of an exposure.
04:05Through music, you can teach a young kid to an old man.
04:10And I think they will understand it well.
04:15Elijah's message is spreading fast.
04:18He already has a crew of kids called the Rap Rowdies
04:21and is teaching hip-hop in different units across Ahre.
04:26The actual protest which we are doing right now is with education.
04:31And one, two, together, sing.
04:46Our beatbox evolved over here because of Tiny.
04:54He just taught one kid.
04:57But now I have like 30, 30 or like, I have beatboxes.
05:05We are just bombarding them with our lyrics every day.
05:09Practice the songs. I know they might like a lot of commercial songs.
05:13But they also like the songs about nature.
05:19And one day definitely this will bring a change.
05:22We believe that.
05:23Clap for yourself guys. Thank you.
05:53Durga Spada Raju Leela Leela
06:00Elijah is fighting for the jungle on all fronts.
06:03When he saw illegal tree cutting during a stroll through the woods,
06:06he immediately documented and reported the evidence.
06:09I saw this tree was being cut down.
06:12So you can see now also, it's been resting on the ground.
06:15So this is the other part.
06:17This was being grounded. We just came here, took this location, the pictures of it.
06:24Elijah gave us the photographs and the locations where the trees were cut.
06:29So immediately we filed an application in the Honourable Supreme Court
06:32and informed the court that their orders were being violated
06:36and the state government wasn't serious about implementing the order of the court.
06:40Some people in Elijah's community are in favour of development.
06:43So being a whistleblower has put a target on his back.
06:53Community was not happy, pelting stones at my house and that was there earlier.
07:00So I forgave from my end. I forgave them.
07:03Because somewhere I am lagging, I could not be able to make them understand.
07:07I'll improve myself and again I'll go back to them and make them understand.
07:13He seems to be unperturbed by all these threats against him.
07:17Once you are nailed on the cross, there's nothing more anyone can do to you.
07:24Despite angry mobs and a lack of support, Elijah has managed to stay positive.
07:29The kids and the future of Aarey have his undivided attention.
07:33We are going to Gau Devi temple for nearby that place usually every Sunday.
07:38Different team comes for plantation, cleaning and little music or maybe more music.
07:44The kids who have come with Elijah, they also have a lot of native knowledge.
07:49They are so in tune.
07:51They bring an incredible energy, understanding, intuition.
07:58This forest or all our natural ecosystems can only go forward if the kids are connected
08:06and they feel passionate about it.
08:08What does an activism mean? It means keeping your word alive for a very long time.
08:13Within you or with the people around you.
08:24This world is big, so I am telling them to reach outside
08:28and to do a proper music which is non-commercial.
08:39I want to be a rapper when I grow up.
08:43I want to rap on the forest because it gives us oxygen.
08:48It gives us photos and everything.
08:51Not today, some of the other day.
08:54They will be able to understand themselves and what the lyrics are.
08:58They will be able to understand themselves and what the lyrics are.
09:02They will be able to understand themselves and what the lyrics are.
09:05They will be able to understand themselves and what the lyrics really meant.
09:09They might find a change in their life and they can start their journey from there.