COIMBATORE: For Ramaa Pathmanaban, a self-proclaimed full-time scribe, penning down words originating from someone sitting across is like breathing life into their thoughts. The 51-year-old homemaker has been a scribe for 11 years now, and extends her services to visually-challenged students, individuals with autism, and the disabled, among others, for free.
More than just a hobby, Ramaa takes her scribe service as a serious job. The mother of two always has a packed schedule during the season of college semester exams, when she writes tests back-to-back for several students, or even several times a day. A graduate in Psychology, followed by a post graduate diploma in Guidance and Counselling, Ramaa’s aim is to live a life of purpose.
“My husband works in the financial sector abroad. We have enough monthly income to lead a happy and peaceful life,” Ramaa tells TNIE. It was during a similar afternoon, in 2013, that Ramaa had received a call from a friend seeking her help as a scribe for a visually-impaired student of the government arts college in Coimbatore. “I was going for yoga classes at the time. One of the other attendees requested me to go as a scribe for a student,” recalls Ramaa, adding that she felt a sense of peace after the first time. Since the place was at walkable distance from her place, Ramaa agreed. There was no looking back after that. Now, Ramaa has stopped keeping a count of how many occasions she has served as a scribe. As far as her memory serves her, she writes as a scribe for a minimum of 50 times every semester (six months), and has travelled as far as 25 km to write an exam that was not hers.
“One of the other days, my four-year-old younger son and I were at home. I had got a call for help, so I started arranging my stuff and things for my son. I asked him to manage himself for the next three hours, locked the door, and left for the college. That day, my son managed to stay without anyone till I returned home,” says a proud Ramaa.
Although she has been strict about not taking money for her services, she recalls being discreetly paid, through digital payments. “I have been credited Rs 500 as remuneration by the institution through my UPI ID. I have never brought the money home, and instead given it to charity, or to buy food for the poor,” Ramaa says.
“The only reason I could manage it this way is because of my husband. He never interfered in my passion of serving as a scribe. I am not a financially independent woman. But he has never asked me where, or why I have been spending money to reach an exam centre for a random person,” she adds.
A dozen of visually-challenged students, who were helped by Ramaa, continue to be in touch with her even after securing jobs. “They keep me updated about developments in their life. To be alive in their memory; that makes me feel special. This is also my motivation. Every time I feel go as a scribe for autistic students, I must be very attentive to what they are saying. Sometimes, it is tough to understand their words or signs. After writing for such students, it takes a while for me to become myself again,” she says.
Ramaa has made it a point to carry forward her work, beginning at home. Her elder son, who is currently a first-year hotel management student, was sent as a scribe twice when he was studying in Class 12. Even as Ramaa continues with her work in the shadows, K Ganesh, coordinator of the Louis Braille Academy in Coimbatore, tells TNIE that a scribe is an engine for the visually-challenged students. “They are stuck when they do not get a scribe or when the scribe does not turn up. It is a tough job. It is more than just writing an exam. Doing it for many years is indeed commendable,” he adds.
(Edited by Shrija Ganguly)