TIRUNELVELI: Ask them what changes they witnessed in their life in the last 73-years, they are lightning fast to strike you back with a clear and firm word — NONE. Post independence, the Arunthathiyar community from Kalathimadam in Tirunelveli have seen the governments change; policies replaced; yet they do what their ancestors had been doing for generations. And their job: To dispose of the echil elai (used banana leaf plates) at the functions of other caste people.
None of the Arunthathiyars who live in Kalathimadam tasted the benefits of reservation nor landed a white-collar government/private job so far. Most of them win their bread by taking up the jobs that people of other castes hesitate to do. There are some 30 Arunthathiyar families live in Kalathimadam and each family has at least one person whose job is to dispose of the used banana leaf plates at the functions of other castes. While some Arunthathiyar women work in farms owned by other caste people, a portion of men work as lumberjacks.
Speaking to TNIE, K Pechiyammal, a resident of Arunthathiyar Colony, said: “I earn `400 as my daily wage for disposing off the used banana leaf plates. I also get food from the functions for my family members. My parents fed us by taking up the same job, and I am following their footsteps to feed my children. Don’t even think that I am willingly doing this disreputable job. It is the poor financial condition that is forcing me to do it. Since I and my husband are uneducated, we have to do whatever job we could to uplift our school-going daughter.”
Aru C Nagalingam, President of the Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars’ Association, said that spreading awareness among the Arunthathiyars is the only way to put them out of their misery. “They should be enlightened on what jobs they should take up and what not,” he rued.