At first sight the river is stunningly scenic, a shimmering expanse of water speckled with tiny vallams-the country craft traditionally used by the locals. But underneath its serene surface, the Vallapattanam river that runs through north Kerala’s Kannur district harbours a legacy of foreboding and death for the farm labour population settled along its banks.
During monsoons the river is in spate, flooding the rice fields and byways. This is the time of unforeseen mishaps: a toddy tapper can fall off a coconut tree and disappear into the swirling waters below, or a leaky vallam might overturn and throw its occupants overboard. Those who can’t swim, perish.
This stark eventuality binds the 2,000-strong population of Mullakudi ward in Kannur’s Mayyil panchayat to the river in a life-and-death ritual that’s played out with the advent of monsoons every year. In the recent past, the river has claimed the lives of many youngsters. Earlier, children learnt to move in the water like tadpoles. It was the responsibility of community elders to ensure that no one fell victim to the river. With the elders losing their hold, the young only learnt to fear the rising waters.
Mallika, 28, stood at a vantage point in this dilemma. She had the surging spirit of youth but was locked into the traditions of her community. She knew the only way to buy peace with the river was to teach the young to swim. Everybody welcomed the proposal. But a passive community had to break free of the shackles of social inhibition and its latent "hydrophobia".
Mallika gathered a team of volunteers and ran a campaign through newspapers and posters. The community responded: 102 boys and 20 girls enlisted for the programme. "It was a breakthrough," observes K.V. Gopinath, a literacy operative in the area. Mallika’s crusade acquired the proportions of a movement. After three months, the first batch of trainees were ready to swim the river. They had overcome their fear.
"When I grew up, it was compulsory to learn to swim," Mallika notes. "The current generation just concentrates on studies. It took a lot of coaxing to get them to join the programme." Her initiative caught the attention of the State Literacy Mission. "We expanded our curriculum to include swimming in our continuing education programme after seeing Mallika’s campaign and its impact on the community," says mission director M.G. Sasibhushan. Mallika bagged the mission’s award for the most outstanding volunteer.
When she is not teaching swimming, Mallika is engaged in popularising the reading habit among local women. "They’re glued to the TV set," she observes. "I found women are interested in books but not willing to go to the library." So Mallika decided to take the books to them. Three times a week, she trudges from door to door, covering 20 houses a day. Her commitment earned her the post of assistant librarian in the local library and a token allowance of Rs 200. Mallika’s efforts have raised the quality of life of the community, but not that of her family. Her father is an out-of-work farmhand with seven children. The family survives on the earnings of Mallika’s brother, a bus conductor.
Yet, poverty is no setback for Mallika. Among her milestones as a social activist are the introduction of health cards for women and the annual camp for repairing home appliances.
The applause comes laced with cynicism, though. An outgoing girl with a penchant for social work draws sniggers from a conservative community. But Mallika is too busy to notice. She plans to implement income-generating schemes for women. The peasant struggles in Mayyil had laid the foundation of Communism but prosperity has always eluded the locals. Agriculture-mainly coconut and rice-is hit hard and economic stagnation haunts residents of this CPI(m)-dominated area.
The locals are wedged between the party and the river, the two overwhelming presences in their lives. Mallika is trying to open up new vistas in the tight space between the two. If you wish to help her achieve these goals, contact C. Mallika, Asst Librarian, crc Library, Mullakudi (Mayyil panchayat), Kannur, Kerala.