Attappadi revisited
Scene 1
The Coimbatore-Palakkad
bypass road at 3 AM on a Sunday morning
It
was the end of a drudgerous bus journey from Bangalore to Coimbatore and
respite came to me in the form of three big smiles. I have to confess that I
checked my phone again to confirm the time. I am not used to being friendly
this early in the morning. Before I knew it my bags were taken from me and we
all huddled in to the waiting car for a close to 1.5 hour drive to Attappadi.
Driving in to the gates of the current KILA (Kerala Institute of Local Administration) in Attappadi, previously known AHADS
(Attappadi Hills Area Development Society), passing the familiar
sights from just a year back felt more refreshing than a steaming hot cuppa
that would have otherwise done the job. I was looking forward to the new
memories that I was here to make.
We
quietly let ourselves in to the KILA guest quarters and I sneaked a couple of
hours of solid shut-eye before waking up to the lively chatter of men and women
around me; young happy voices from adjacent rooms in the same house. The
morning bustle was in full swing. A few early birds were already out for their
cup of bed tea at the canteen. Some
of them were at the big table in the living room, washed and fresh, going
through sheaves of paper, making notes for the day as well as exchanging them.
I lay down listening to the day slowly coming to life. The kids were to come in
at 8.30 AM for breakfast and the sessions were on from 9:00 AM.
I
paused the laze button and got to action.
Scene 2
The KILA canteen with
its marble topped tables and plastic chairs and steel jugs of boiled and cooled
water. The aluminum serving vessels of spicy steaming upma and hot chai.
It
was a glorious morning by all standards; the summer heat was yet to set in and
the clean air around was already giving me a high. Scrubbed and shorn off the
weariness from the bus journey I joined the group of 8 facilitators and walked
towards the KILA canteen.
The
KILA campus has been home to these facilitators and their mentors, Litty and
Babu Mathew, for the last 9 months, all of who are part of the SEL (Socio
emotional learning) project run for a group of 100 children from the 192 tribal
villages in Attappadi. To give you some background, this project is an
extension of Project Shine, an initiative of the 1991 batch of Sainik School
Kazhakoottam which placed 7 out of the 24 trained and coached tribal students
at the Sainik School last year, after they
cleared the sixth grade all-India entrance exam.
While
I sat there with my plate of hot upma, waiting for the others to join me, I saw
groups of smartly dressed boys and girls walking in to the canteen shouting out
greetings to their friends and their teachers in pretty much a similar manner. The
one possible difference would have been those warm hugs and jumps which they threw
at their teachers once they got to them. Boys and girls from the pack hanging
on to the arms of their teachers and continuing with their conversations with
the rest of their friends as if this was the most normal course of being. The
very fact that I found this demonstration of innate trust more as an exception
than a norm was something which got me thinking. I mostly find anxious
looks on the young faces that I see around me which seek approval for everything that is said or done.
The curling of toes and twiddling of thumbs and lowering of heads whenever they
feel burdened by the image of their created persona has dampened my spirits
whenever I have noticed it. The bright twinkle in the eyes of these children,
hence, came as a refreshing change. It reached even a brand new stranger like
me. I couldn’t help but return those smiles without holding back. Soon those
hugs and jumps found their way to me.
“It wasn’t something that they came with. They
were a group of children from various states of emotional and social being when
they first came to us. The differences among them were huge and communication
wasn’t easy. What we did was to gently guide them in to a tried and tested way
of learning which integrated aspects of collaboration, concept building and
consequential learning. Language as a barrier did not exist there anymore, as a
result. Communication became smoother and the differences started disappearing.
It came about with a lot of effort, time and patience” I was listening to Babu
who spoke about the journey so far with these kids.
After
breakfast we all walked to the study centre which I thought was just the place
to pursue learning of any kind. The rectangular structure which opened out in
to a bright open courtyard provided the right ambience to learn and as soon as they
were all seated at the wide corridor towards the entrance I was flooded with
questions from almost all 82 of them “Did you come all the way from Bangalore
just to see us?” “Were you not scared to travel all alone?” And these were just
the warm up questions…
Scene 3
The sun kissed
rectangular courtyard with some splash of green in it. The surrounding corridor
with its slanted roof and arched pillars.
Eight
study groups of around 10-11 children each. Eight facilitators working with
each of those children in their respective groups. Intense full day sessions on
weekends for 7 months. An integrated syllabus which brought together the
essential faculties in an approach which made learning a journey of exploration
and discovery rather than a burden to be overcome.
That
Sunday, the children were on their journey of exploring the history of Attappadi.
I found a spot for myself in one of those groups and expanded their circle by
joining them.
There
are three major tribes which inhabit this land: Irulas, mudugas and kurumbas
and each of these tribes spoke their own language. 192 hamlets and a mooppan (head of the hamlet)
for each of those hamlets. It is fascinating to know that Attappadi is a
destination of a lot of untold tales. The folklores and the legends that
surround this place are a treat to lovers of stories and a way of life to the
inhabitants of this place. I was fascinated by the position of the legendary mannukkaran
(roughly translated as a man of the land) who had the right to lay out the
first seeds of the season for his hamlet after gauging the right time and place
for the same. The toiling in the farms culminates in Kambalam, the harvest festival which was and still is a big celebration to the accompaniment to dance and music.
This
erstwhile idyllic life of the people in Attappadi came to a halt when the
Zamorin of the then region of Malabar in a pre-unified Kerala came to claim for
the land that was not owned by anyone yet. Agriculture was flourishing in
Attappadi thanks to the efforts of the people but they weren’t shrewd
enough or trained enough in the mercenary ways of the world to separate the
land by borders and claim their portion through documents of possession. Much
of the land was claimed for, portions of it were sold to please the English
officials in the pre independent India and Attappadi slowly started to lose its Utopian state of existence.
This is all history and I was
captivated by the style of narration by the particular facilitator whose group
I joined in. He was a native of the place and carried with him very strong
memories of experiencing the gradual changes that his land went through, over
the years. I was taken back in time and place; smelling the fresh flowers and
tasting the best of fruits from their forests.
I
could see that the children were all caught in this exploratory trail of their
own history and supplemented the narrative with experiences and stories from
their own lives. I cannot think of a better way of sustained learning
Scene 4
The canteen, the sun
kissed study centre and back to the KILA guest quarters
Sunday
was a half day for the children and the facilitators and after a sumptuous
lunch of vegetable fried rice and chicken
curry we were back at our study centre for a quick recap of what was
covered during the day. The children were free to replicate their learning
through drawings and narratives and charts, choosing a mode that they felt best
comfortable in. I was amazed at the clarity of thoughts and facts and concepts
which the 3 hour discussion had brought about.
At
around three in the afternoon, the jeeps that were organized to take the
children back home started coming up the drive way, one after the other. Before
they left for the day, there were two birthdays that needed to be celebrated. No
occasion goes unnoticed here and it is always celebrated together.
The
happy birthday song was followed by chocolates for everyone. I expected much
pushing and prodding by the kids to grab their share. But there was none. There
was no impatience or mistrust as they all knew that no one will go without
what’s due for them. Standing in line and waiting for their turn, they were
busy playing pranks on each other and sharing stories among their friends.
The
glorious day was slowly on its way out. The last of the autos which carried the
children back to their homes were gone and the last of us remained. Sitting on
the steps that led to the study centre I was looking back at the day that
passed and the many things that I would take back with me. Among it all, what
stood out the strongest was the ease with which everything moved about in this
place. There was no force or no compulsion to do anything or be a particular
way. The group which included both the kids and the facilitators were slowly
led in to a way of life which brought out the best in each one of them. It
didn’t feel stressful because it was nature and it only reinforced the
truth that going against nature was always tedious.
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