Revisiting Kuzhumur village in Ariyalur a year after Anitha’s death
ARIYALUR: It has been a year since Kuzhumur had been in the news, since 17-year-old S Anitha committed suicide. A huge board with the Dalit student’s picture alongside those of Ambedkar and Periyar marks the village. “I was in the fifth standard when *paapa* was born. We were so happy to finally have a baby sister,” her brother Manirathinam said. His parents had longed for a girl child. We recalled Anitha’s school teacher saying Anitha wanted to become a doctor because her mother had died without timely medical help. “Yes, that’s true,” he said, adding, “We still doesn't have any hospitals close by.”
It’s a little before 11 am, but the house is dark. There is a huge portrait of her with her name written as Dr Anitha. “Being a staunch Ambedkarite and Periyarist, I made it a point to bring up my sister with those values,” Mani said. Though their father was against it, Mani insisted Anitha live in hostel. “In the village, our women still have to get up at 5 am to go into the fields and relieve themselves before the men, because there are no toilets. I wanted Anitha to live in a hostel, so she could have access to toilet facilities,” Mani explained.
Mani advised Anitha to keep her options open and applied to many different courses for her, including the JIPMER entrance but was shocked to find it was computer-based: “Sometimes I think the government thinks only children in cities deserve a future. Anitha had never touched a computer, so I asked a friend to bring his laptop and showed her basics like what a mouse was. But when she went to the centre, she didn’t even know how to switch it on.”
If medical admissions in 2017 had been held on the basis of Class 12 results, as it had been for the past decade, Anitha, with centums in Physics and Mathematics, 199 in Chemistry and 194 in Biology, would have secured a cut-off of 196.75 out of 200.
When Anitha went to Delhi to represent the plight of students at the Supreme Court at the request of the State government, the immediate reaction was suspicion — How did she get the money? “It really hurt us. One newspaper said we had taken a ‘jolly trip’ to Delhi. It made me so angry,” he seethed. As it happens the costs were borne by educationist Prince Gajendra Babu.
The siblings went by bike to the nearest bus stop to take a bus to Chennai. They got off directly at the airport and boarded the flight at 9 am. At 9 pm, they were on a flight back. “First times happen only once and I remember thinking how we couldn’t even enjoy it. We went all the way to our capital and I couldn’t show Anitha anything. I promised myself that I would bring her a second time,” he said.
When the judgment came, both Anitha and Mani were watching the news. “I was furious but I didn’t want to show Anita I was upset. We decided she could take up the veterinary course in Chennai. We came to terms with it and we thought she had too,” he said quietly. The introverted Anita, only really spoke to Selvi Ramesh, who lives next door. On that day, Anitha was with Selvi. In the morning she asked her to buy keerai (spinach) to cook for Mani, his favourite thing to eat. “A while later she asked for `10 to buy thaen muttai (sweet). So I gave her the money and she went away,” she said, adding, “That’s the last time I saw her.”
A while later, Mani wondered where she was. Then they found her dead. “I don’t know who to blame. Whether to blame the government or someone else. I couldn’t even grieve properly because her death became such a huge thing. People said some really horrible things. Now she’s not here but NEET still is,” Mani said.
Anitha’s father wants to talk, but at the library. “This is what we did with the money we received. We built a library. I told my sons we could use the money to pay off loans or to build us a better house. But Mani refused. Now I know why,” Shanmugam said. They live in the same house and eat the same rice as Anitha had, “But I can’t sleep or eat in peace. Till the day I die, I will think about her,” said the daily wager.
Mani still keeps a glass of tea and a packet of biscuits by Anitha’s portrait, “They would do the same for my mother and I would ridicule it because we would end up eating it anyway. Now I always remember to keep that glass of tea,” he said.
Light from the window falls on a portrait of Ambedkar in a carton. Next to it is a picture of Periyar. The room was filled with stacks and stacks of books. Mani told us there were more. All collected for the library. “Children should have the opportunity to study and they should have computers to study with. The library is getting four computers,” Shanmugham added.
If you are in distress or have suicidal thoughts, call the government health helpline at 104 or seek help at the Sneha suicide helpline at 044 24640050.