Photo caption: E S Santhamani, Deepa Jayan and Selvi (L to R)
The tribal community in Attappadi has long struggled through oppression and exploitation. They were either easy preys or exotic spectacles for the outsiders.
Yet the younger generation in the tribes have learned to take on the world. We introduce three young women who wear their tribal identity on their sleeves. These achievers smile on the face of the society which once told them that education was not meant for a tribal girl.
Selvi
Selvi topped the SSLC exam in 2002 among the Scheduled Tribes category students. Today she discharges the duties of an assistant director in the agriculture department in the Attappadi block.
E S Santhamani
When Santhamani was awarded a B Tech degree in dairy sciences, it was a milestone for the tribal communities in Kerala. Today she is a dairy extension officer in the Attappadi block.
Deepa Jayan
Deepa Jayan is the agriculture officer in charge of the Agali panchayat.
The three women fought through the prejudices with sheer will power and determination. Education was their key to success. Selvi went to a school in Attappadi up to the fourth grade. The others stayed on in Attappadi schools until they finished their tenth class.
The three women went to the Model Residential School at Kattela in Thiruvananthapuram for plus two courses in different periods. Selvi and Deepa went on to pursue agriculture degrees while Santhamani proceeded to the Dairy Science College at Mannuthi for a B Tech degree.
As little girls, they were written off by society. No one expected them to complete even primary education. They said that they faced similar challenges in their fight. They were confused when they went out of their communities. The girls who spoke the tribal languages of Irula, Muduga or Kuruba had a tough time in larger schools amid children and teachers who spoke Malayalam, which sounded like a “foreign language”.
At the end of the day, the three women are better polyglots than an average Malayali. Apart from the three tribal languages, they can speak Malayalam, Hindi and English.
They said that tribal children are second to none in studies. However, the children are constantly bogged down by the prejudice of society which tell them they are not going to prove anything by studying.
The three officers said that girls are often better-equipped to overcome the hurdles, while most boys leave studies midway. Discouraged by society, they become introverts, much like Madhu, who was lynched by a mob earlier this year.
The three women officers have given a befitting reply to their detractors. You can sideline us but never bar us from reaching our goal, they said in unison.
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