Alappuzha: Kunjamma was nowhere to be seen around her house. The only way to contact her in this water world was to call out her name. She promptly replied. Still she was nowhere to be seen. The 62-year-old woman was perched on top of a coconut tree.
Kunjamma is no ordinary woman. She can do any job a man does, and in a better way. The woman who lives at Attuchira in the Veliyanad panchayat started her extraordinary career when she was just 13 years old.
The death of her father prompted the small girl to work hard to look after her mother and younger brother. She started working as an agricultural labourer but soon realised that women were grossly underpaid in the sector.
Unable to support her family, she explored other avenues. She ventured into the tasks generally reserved for men. She would prepare the fields, climb coconut trees or row grass-laden boats through the lakes and canals.
Perhaps Kunjamma's greatest achievement was the reclamation of a patch of land from the river to build her house. She built a thatched hut by the Meenachil River, only to see it washed away by the river. She rebuilt the house. She would do it 16 times, until the panchayat authorities built a pucca house that could survive the vagaries of the river.
Kunjamma ensured that her brother got a good education. She bore three children. Two of them survived. Both of them are married.
Kunjamma is in no mood to retire though. Her knees are troubling her but she is still ready to work hard.
Her only wish is to obtain a title deed for the land she reclaimed from the river.
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