• Madurai Messenger
• Printed version
• 2007
• September
• Editorial

 

Making a difference

by Nandini Murali

For centuries they've lived on the fringes of society. Uncared for, neglected, and denied most facilities that we take for granted. Even basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing. Yet they carried on as if nothing mattered to them. Such is the lot of many tribal communities in the country.

When I was a child, I remember being threatened with fear of the bogeyman. The bogeyman happened to be a member of a now vanishing tribal community-the boom boom mattukara community that lived by begging. For tradition forbid them to do otherwise. Believing themselves to be descendants of Lord Krishna, they considered it a sin to earn a living by any other means. Perhaps such obstinate clinging to obsolete beliefs in the name of tradition was also responsible for the tribe being socially and economically backward. The women in the community string beads.

Recently, however, a friend of mine, Revathi, film maker and social activist, has started a school in Nagapatinam for children of this community. It took a lot of persuasion on her part to get the parents to send their children to school. Vanavil (Rainbow), her school in Nagapatinam, provides education and food free of charge. Once they experienced the pleasures of education, however, there's no going back for these children. Sometimes all it takes to make a difference is someone who reaches out to people in the spirit of compassion.

A similar transformation is happening in the lives of tribal communities in Pudukottai. Vijaya Palanisamy, a member of thee Narikuravar tribe is the first woman to be educated in the community.

Together with her husband, Palanisamy, she started the association for Bottom Strata (ABS) that works for the empowerment of the downtrodden. In Vijaya's case, the lived experience of living on the margins of society motivated her to move her people to a higher plane. While there is a long way to go, the efforts of ABS has certainly started the process of moving a once-neglected people from the margin to the centre. Our cover story tells you how.