CONNECTING WITH MY TRIBE

Aji Krishnan, the founder and secretary of HRDS INDIA, work in tribal settlements has begun to blur the social divide. The rise of HRDS INDIA from a single idea into a massive voluntary initiative is rooted in his traditional townlet beliefs and experiences as a social development specialist and dedicated volunteer. In a conversation with The Unique Times, he shares how the work brings strength and solace to a community in dire need of basic needs.

- Aji Krishnan

Ten years ago, Shakti and Sandhya, aged 8 and 12, who lived in the tribal hamlet of Vattalaky in Attappady, Palakkad were tilling the field under the scorching sun. It was March, the summer was at its atrocious peak. The two young ones were trying to dig out tubers from the dry land to satiate their hunger. Even sweat dried before it trickled down their spine from their foreheads, remembers Ranjitha, a field worker for The High range Rural Development Society HRDS INDIA, an NGO that works for tribal welfare, headquartered in New Delhi and with a project office in Palakkad.

But the fortunes of this family changed after HRDS took them on board. Aji Krishnan, the founder and Secretary of HRDS INDIA remembered the first time he met these children. Their mother, Malli was working at a nearby home as a maid to eke out a living. Their father Selvan had died a few years ago due to intestinal cancer. The children who were earlier put in a school, dropped out of it as there was nobody to watch over them. I still remember how famished and worn out these two children looked when I went to meet them after my volunteer group spotted them. It's been 3 years since our NGO adopted this hapless tribal from the Kurumba community, traditionally known to be bee collectors of the forest, recollected Krishnan.

Krishnan enrolled them in the HRDS Green School soon and today, these two children have been enriched with the armour of education. It is heartwarming to see the transformation of them in the last 3 years since they have been with us. Shakti wants to be an engineer and Sandhya dreams to get a job in railways, says Krishnan, with a contented smile.