At 10am on Monday, the god of death was spotted near the race course in central Bengaluru. He was dressed in striking black and gold robes and clutched a mace in his hand. Every time he spotted a helmet-less biker or a car driver with an unstrapped seat-belt, Yama thundered in Kannada, “I’m Yama, do you know why I have come here? Traffic rules are being violated terribly here in Bengaluru, forcing me to descend. When gods like us wear a crown, I mean a helmet, why can’t you?”
Yama even hopped onto the bikes of helmet-less riders and stroked their hair: “Oh, are you worried your hairstyle will be spoiled? Chi chi chi. Anyway, today I’ll forgive you. Next time, if you don’t follow the rules, I’ll have to do my duty as the god of death. Take this as a warning.”
The simultaneously embarrassed and amused motorists were sent off after Yama handed each of them a rose. “Hope you have a good day today though,” he yelled as the signal turned green.
The man in the costume is Veeresh Muthinamati. The Kannada theatre actor and director has been recruited by the Bengaluru Traffic Police as their mascot for the ongoing National Roadside Traffic Safety Awareness Month.
“We wanted to do something different,” said Mohammed Ali, the traffic police inspector at Ulsoor police station who persuaded Muthinamati to play the part. “When people are reminded of rules this way, they are likely to remember them for a while at least.”
On Tuesday, Yama was due to visit the Electronic City signal in South Bengaluru. He is likely to make more appearances in the city as the road safety drive winds down.
Before Muthinamati agreed to play the part, Ali and other officials had tried to recruit other theatre actors for the role. Muthinamati had a personal reason for accepting their offer.
“I lost my elder brother about a year ago in a road accident near our house in Gangavati in North Karnataka,” Muthinamati said. “My brother was riding pillion and wasn’t wearing a helmet. The bike skid and my brother hit his forehead. For almost a week, we roamed from one hospital to the other to ensure my brother survived. But he didn’t.”
He added: “I wouldn’t even wish the pain that our family has gone through, especially his wife and children, on my enemies. And I can’t help but think that his fate might have been different had he worn a helmet that day.”
Muthinamati’s transformation into Yama takes at least an hour. The make-up and costume change take place at the famous Ravindra Kalakshetra auditorium. His long-time associate and make-up artist, Mohan Kumar, is in charge of the props, which include the hair, the moustache and the fake protruding belly.
Yama is dressed as he is in traditional portraits and has all his accessories – save one. The traffic police and Muthinamati felt that brandishing a noose would send a wrong message. “And it could anger many people too,” Muthinamati added. “Some people are superstitious about these things.”
Once he is ready, Muthinamati puts on his red sneakers and takes an autorickshaw to the designated traffic police station. From there, Yama accompanies officers and constables from the traffic department to major junctions. The traffic policemen spot the violators and point them to Yama, who then takes over.
“Most of the time, the motorist thinks he is done for and is busy attempting an excuse to us before he sees Yama,” said a traffic constable. “Then when Yama takes over, the motorist is confused about what is going to happen to him. With all this media attention also now, for most of them, there is the embarrassment that comes with being on camera. But all of this leaves them with no choice but to acknowledge the message.”
Muthinamati’s convincing performance as Yama might have something to do with the fact that he has played several mythological characters in Kannada stage productions. “I’d usually get comedy roles or a hero-like character, but if you ask me my favourite type of role, that’s the villain. Yama fits right in.”
Muthinamati came to Bengaluru eight years ago to work as a manager at Hindustan Unilever Limited. The job and the pay were good, but his heart lay elsewhere. “There was something lacking and I wasn’t happy,” Muthinamati said. “Sometime in 2014, I happened to watch a play in the city and was completely taken in by the performances, the costumes, the setting – everything. But I had no idea one can make a career in a field like this.”
He spent many months hanging around Ravindra Kalakshetra in the hope of landing a role in a play. “A theatre artist called Ramakrishna Babu finally called me one day and said there was a role for me,” Muthinamathi said. “It was an unforgettable experience. After the play, my co-actors and mentors said that I have the qualities of a performer – that I could deliver lines well and had stage presence. I guess, in a way, these very skills are coming in handy while improvising as Yama on the roads.”
By 2015, Muthinamatti had also begun to write plays, and he started his own troupe, the Vande Mataram Lalita Kala Academy, to train new actors and technicians. Over the past few years, Muthinamatti has starred in around 30 plays and directed close to 45 plays. This apart from appearing in Kannada television serials, including Kulavadhu, Puttagowri Maduve and Kamali.
“A role like this [Yama], from a theatre point of view is fantastic,” he said. “As a theatre actor, all you want to do is reach out to as many people as possible in society. This achieves that in a way. Won’t people in their homes today be telling others that they saw Yama on the road on their way to work?”
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