Kasaragod: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose has intervened to sponsor the education and classical dance classes of Sachu Satheesh (13), an Adivasi student whose triumphs and struggles were reported by Onmanorama.
Bose tied up funds to admit Sachu at Swathi Thirunal Trust, a dance school run by ace dancer, choreographer and guru, Jolly Mathew at Tripunithura in Ernakulam.
Bose, a retired Kerala cadre IAS officer, started his bureaucratic career in Kanhangad.
The announcement was made at a private function in which the Governor was the chief guest in Kanhangad on Monday.
"The report is making a difference to the family," Bose told the reporter.
On December 24, Onmanorama reported how Sachu's mother Bindu, aunt Lakshmi, and grandmother Vellachi are sweating it out to see Sachu perform Bharatanatyam at the state school fest' (Read here). He was possibly the first Bharatanatyam dancer from the Mala Vettuvan community to perform at the State School Festival.
A Chennai-based classical dancer-actor drew the Governor's attention to the report in December and he agreed to help the family.
When Bose came to Kasaragod on Monday, he invited Sachu and his mother Bindu to a private function and felicitated them. The memento given to Bindu, a single mother, was a gift on behalf of the Raj Bhavan of West Bengal, announced the emcee.
At the Governor's request, Naresh C Chetan, the chief executive officer of Coimbatore-based Zaveri Bros Diamonds & Gold, agreed to sponsor the education of Sachu.
In the Kasaragod District School Competition held in December, Sachu got an A grade in classical dance Bharatanatyam and Kerala Nadanam, and Kerala folk dance Nadodi Nritham and was selected for the State School Kalolsavam.
At the state competition, Sachu got a B grade in Bharatanatyam and top A grades in Kerala Nadanam and Nadodi Nritham.
The anonymous dancer-actor benefactor, who requested the governor to help Sachu, said she would be mentoring the boy and financially supporting his mother Bindu.
Sachu has been learning Bharatanatyam since Class III. His much-delayed debut performance of Arangettam was held at Mookambika Temple at Kollur in Karnataka on February 14.
Bindu got a loan of Rs 72,932 from a private financier for the Arangettam. She will have to pay the company Rs 1,150 every week for two years to repay the loan. In other words, the company is charging her more than 25% as the interest rate on the loan.
But that's not all. She had to raise Rs 13,000 to train Sachu in Bharatanatyam for the school festival, Rs 25,000 for Kerala Nadanam, and Rs 15,000 for Nadodi Nritham.
Bindu and Vellachi said they were not losing their mind on the burgeoning debt on the family. "Sachu loves to dance and his father (Satheesh P R) wanted to make him a dancer," said Bindu. Satheesh (34), a head-load worker, succumbed to a heart attack he suffered when his mother died in March 2018. He died three days before Sachu turned nine years old. "So we will do everything we can to realise his dreams," she said.
Sachu told Onmanorama that he wanted to learn violin. But the three mothers shot down the idea because they don't have the money to teach him.
The benefactor told Onmanorama Sachu would be taught to play the violin, too, at Swathi Thirunal Trust. "I will be mentoring him. I have long-term plans for the boy and his family," she said.
