VILLUPURAM: In a remote village in Kallakurichi, the sun blazes on mercilessly and the air hangs heavy with dust, as M Dhamodharan, a 16-year-old boy, toils away.
His hands, roughened by labour, grasp tools and bricks, while his peers are in classrooms, solving math equations and dreaming of brighter futures.
27 years later, Dr M Dhamodharan, a 43-year-old man who has overcome hardship and adversity, is leading the charge in changing rural children’s lives. It has been a long journey from being a child labourer at a brick kiln to being a driving force behind the renowned non-profit organisation ‘AID India’.
Dhamodharan’s early years working in the sweltering heat are etched in his memory. “The villagers used to take their children along in small trucks. We used to work under the scorching sun for an entire day. I used to be exhausted by the evening. But the next thing I knew, I was in a truck heading to work the next morning,” he recalls.
Amid all the noise, dust and fatigue, Dhamodharan found some respite in mathematics. “I had little time to recollect what was being taught in school because of the work. So, I figured out ways to understand the logic behind every math formula. It helped me stay curious and learn.”
At the age of 18, after two years of backbreaking work, Dhamodharan made a life-altering decision. He left his village and embarked on a journey to pursue college education in Chennai after clearing Classes 10 and 12. He earned a degree in Botany and Plant Biotechnology from The New College, Chennai.
Coincidentally, he lived near Taramani, where AID India ran a tuition center at the time. In 2000, Dhamodharan took a leap of faith and became a volunteer at the NGO, dedicating himself to teaching children in a neighbouring slum. While working as a trainer, he continued his educational journey, obtaining a master's in Anthropology from Madras University, and later obtaining an MPhil and a PhD in the subject.
Dhamodharan’s PhD thesis focused on learning disabilities among Irular tribal children, a problem stemming from their social reality and poor teaching methods. “I devised a few fun ways to make rural children understand science, math, and language. Our organisation also formulated schemes to ensure rural children can read, write, and do basic calculations,” he shared. Under Dhamodharan’s leadership, AID India’s efforts have led to the rehabilitation of thousands of children, breaking the vicious cycle of child labour.
Over the years, Dhamodharan has worked with more than 25 lakh school children, all hailing from SC/ST communities and other backward classes. To this day, his commitment is unwavering. “I am working to ensure that the basic rights of children from marginalised communities to education, dignified employment, and life are exercised,” he says.