VELLORE: Three years ago, 11-year-old M Hemalatha was unsure of the exact date she was born because, in Vellore’s Jawadhu Hills, age of tribal children was measured by the changing seasons rather than celebrations. Hailing from the Malayali tribal community in Pattikollai of Palampattu panchayat of Anaicut taluk, her parents said then, “Etho Aadi masathila puranthirikanga ninakkiren (She might have been born in the month of Aadi).”
But the situation changed for her, and over 500 tribal students spread across Peenjamandai, Palampattu and Alleri hamlets, when 42-year-old T Giridharan, a social worker, decided to bring gifts, new dresses, cakes and sometimes even chicken curry to celebrate their birthdays. “For my last birthday, Giri uncle bought me a pretty new dress and a cake, which I cut with my friends at school,” said Hemalatha.
Giri is a board member of Seb’s Projects India, an NGO working to address the holistic needs of tribal communities in Jawadhu Hills, and supports around 10 primary schools run by Seb’s on the Vellore side of the hills with educational materials. “Now, their parents have also started celebrating their children’s birthdays in whatever small way they can,” Giri said with a smile.
On a Wednesday morning, cutting through the quiet of the mountain range, Giri sets out with Suresh and Dominic, staff at Seb’s, in a jeep loaded with an unusual cargo of water bottles, tiffin boxes, notebooks, crayons, geometry boxes and other supplies. Through a two-hour journey from his home in Gandhi Nagar at Katpadi, Giri’s jeep navigates the treacherous, pothole-filled, dirt tracks twisting deep into Palampattu.
The moment the vehicle becomes visible, classroom doors burst open with anticipation. Children spill into the schoolyard, flocking around Giri, who for seven years has relentlessly taken backbreaking rides to see their faces light up as they receive these things, sometimes for the first time. “That feeling of owning something for themselves is new to many of them.
They all come from financially backward families where such needs are not often prioritised,” Giri said. “As children, after every summer holiday, we would ask our parents for new school bags, umbrellas or waterbottles, and they could buy them for us.
For these children, buying such things means travelling 30-40 km downhill. Some parents have vehicles, but roads are also in poor shape. Therefore, their needs are often put aside. Children in the plains get everything easily, but for these kids, even basic needs are difficult to access.”
Giri keeps a close watch on what the children need. After noticing that they struggled to sit on the floor and write, he arranged foldable study tables for them. “This improved their handwriting,” he said. Throughout the year, he continues to provide whatever is needed, besides arranging monthly birthday celebrations for kids.
He gets a list of students who celebrate their birthdays in a particular month from teachers and buys gifts for each one of them. Through these efforts, Giri hopes more children will be encouraged to attend school. “Once they start coming, the learning will follow,” he said. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Giri drove to the hills in his own vehicle to ensure tribal families had essential provisions, recalls Suresh, his partner.
P Janaki, a teacher at Pattikollai school, said, “Such efforts encourage students to come to school more regularly. Thanks to these trips, the school attendance has more than tripled over the last five or six years from around 30 students to nearly 100 today.”
Shopping for supplies takes up almost every weekend. “Most shopkeepers know me now, and some even offer discounts knowing the cause,” he said.
While Seb’s staff help identify students in need, most funding comes from Giri himself or benevolent donors. Inspired by his work, several college students in Vellore have also started volunteering by buying supplies, carrying them to the hills and spending time with children.
“For me, the happiest part is seeing students continue their education despite struggles. One student I supported from Cinnur village to pursue nursing studies is now working at AIIMS Kolkata. Seeing him has encouraged many others to also pursue higher studies,” Giri said.
Some tribal hamlets, especially in Alleri, still lack proper roads. Delivering supplies is no mean feat, but Giri says he does not hesitate to walk several kilometres if needed. Besides his social work, he works as a freelance animator and visual graphics designer. He also supports old-age homes, homeless people and children with disabilities.
His next dream is to show these children stars hanging beyond the ceiling of the night sky. The adventure would be to take a telescope up to the tribal schools to organise stargazing nights. Not only to teach science, but also as a brilliant metaphor of the future. “Only when children get to see new things will their curiosity develop,” Giri said. He wants to show these children that the millions of twinkling lights are a map of how high they can reach, never letting the limitations of geography hold them back.