THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the nation celebrates Children’s Day with gusto, seven-year-old Amalu spends her time painting and playing with her kitten outside the Secretariat, unaware of what the day is all about.
S Amalu and her parents B Sukumaran and A Shakuntala have been on a peaceful protest for their right to live in their own house for the past 292 days. Amalu says they were forced to give up their land and were brutally attacked and abused when they refused to give in to the demands of the real-estate mafia.
Amalu, a native of Avanakuzhi, near Balaramapuram, had to discontinue her schooling after first standard. “The goons attacked our home. We filed several complaints before the DGP, but no action was taken,” said Shakuntala.
Since Amalu was not able to attend school regularly, it was Shakuntala who taught her daughter to read and write.
Despite the hard circumstances, Amalu utilises her time by painting and reading Malayalam newspapers every day. She is a voracious reader who reads everything that comes her way. “I can read only Malayalam and hope that one day I can read and write English fluently as well. I keep a notebook in which I write down the names of everyone who visits us,” says Amalu, proudly displaying her notebook.
Her mother adds that Amalu is the one who wrote the board with their story that hangs outside their tent. According to Shakuntala, a few college students came forward to teach her, but the authorities sent them away.
This seven-year-old’s life is far from normal childhood, the only friends she has here are her pet kitten and the squirrels that she feeds. Amalu has frequently featured on newspapers and visual media, but her right to education has not been recognised. “I loved my old school, but I want to stay here with my parents,” she adds.
Their present home is a makeshift dingy tent without even a proper roof. Monsoons have been hard on them, but they have not backtracked. “ I would love to go to school, but only after we get our home back,” says a confident-looking Amalu.