CHENNAI : She shattered my dreams of ensuring she completes her class 12. I insisted her to go to school till the time she was married, but she didn’t,” says Lakshmi, staring at her daughter Priya. “I wanted to continue my studies, but he didn’t want me to,” says Priya, a teenager, blaming her husband Chinnarasu, who was sitting on the floor beside her. After a pause, all three laugh, recalling an incident that happened eighteen months ago.
In April 2017, Chinnarasu proposed to Priya, after a short courtship period. Families in the Narikuravar (an indigenous community) colony in Pallavaram gathered for a panchayat meeting, where it was decided that Priya and Chinnarasu would tie the knot. When the gathering cheered the couple, an important person, Priya’s mother Lakshmi, hardly had any say in the decision.
Lakshmi is a mother of four girls and a boy. Priya is her second daughter. She did not want any of her children to earn their livelihood as a garbage collector and wanted all of them to study and secure good jobs.Lakshmi begins her work at 6 am, along with her husband Vijayan. She makes several trips on a green tricycle to keep the streets of Pallavaram clean. Vijayan rides it and Lakshmi separates the non-biodegradable items for an additional income. Leftovers at restaurants turn breakfast and lunch for the couple. On Fridays, they do a mom-and-pop business by selling household items at the Friday market along the Pallavaram-Tirusulam stretch.
Lakshmi’s eldest daughter, Manjula, does not have a community certificate, and so she could not enrol in school. “For us, the certificate is the road to education,” says Lakshmi. Manjula eventually became a garbage collector. So, Lakshmi pinned all her hopes on Priya. The couple admitted Priya to four different schools, whenever she wanted a switch in schooling. Lakshmi was even specific about her daughter’s becoming teachers.
“Priya had appeared for her class 9 final exams when Chinnarasu came with the proposal,” Lakshmi says. Chinnarasu dropped out of school in class 3 after his teacher had scolded him for inhaling snuff during class hours. “I did not want Priya to quit school, but the community would have wanted it,” says Chinnarasu, citing clothing as the major reason for the decision. “A girl who is engaged must stop wearing salwar kameez or top and leggings,” he says. All married women are clad in saris while men are seen in dhotis and shirts.
Though the panchayat had decided to get Priya and Chinnarasu married, the ceremony was held off, owing to the spending. “The groom’s family gives a sum to the bride’s kin as dowry,” says Lakshmi, who received `50,000 from Chinnarasu’s family. In addition to the dowry and her savings, she borrowed a loan from a local usurer. Around 10 months after the panchayat meeting, the duo got married with a due ceremony that got Chinnarasu’s family a debt of over `3 lakh.
“Families of both brides and grooms in our community must give their relatives `200-`500, bangles to women and a bottle of liquor, either before the wedding or during the ceremony,” Lakshmi says. She spent nearly half of the total money in giving these presents and the rest in buying shirts, dhotis and turbans for close relatives. The groom’s family bore the ceremonial expenses.
The newly weds spent the first nine months of their marriage at Lakshmi’s thatched hut and moved to a nearby hut recently. They live on Chinnarasu’s income that he earns by riding his tricycle and collecting remains of food at restaurants.
Giving fate another chance, Lakshmi has now pinned her hopes on her daughter, Gangotri, a class 7 student. She aims to become a doctor. For the first time, two girls in the colony have entered class 12.
Three others, including two boys and a girl go to school. While the boys are in class 11 and the girl is in class 10. Priya gives these statistics and believes the dropout rate in the colony will come down. She has joined her mother in seeing education as the change for the better.
All efforts in vain
The headmistress of a government-aided school, Hepsiba, who has breathed new life into the community, is an inspiration to the family. She tried to persuade Lakshmi and Vijayan to postpone Priya’s marriage until she completed school. But, all efforts went in vain.