Anjani’s achievements are lessons in resilience. The girl who secured ‘A plus’ rating in her 10th standard exams is trying to overcome the trials and tribulations that left her an orphan at a tender age.
“I want to be a doctor, like my father wished, like I promised my mother,” Anjani says. Her parents are no longer with her. Her mother died after giving birth to her younger sister. Her father killed himself and the little girl in a drunken stupor.
Anjani clings to hope
She does not want to share her tragedy even to her close friends. However, she thinks her experiences may give courage to other girls to face life head on.
“I have experienced enough sorrow for a lifetime. I pray that no other girl faces what I had to face,” she says.
Anjani had a happier childhood in her house at Injippathal in Idukki district. Her father Shabu and mother Mini were doting parents. The family made a living through modest farming and animal husbandry. Shabu was educated and wanted his daughter to study well.
“When I was a little girl, my mother gave birth to a girl, Arathy. My mother died of jaundice two months after my sister’s birth. I felt all the happiness fading away. My father was also shattered,” Anjani says.
Her paternal grandmother took care of the little child. The old woman took the child to her house at Muniyara, leaving Anjani and her father in their house.
“My father was very loving. But he was dejected by my mother’s demise. He brought back my sister after a while. Granny would visit us sometimes,” she says.
Shabu married again when Anjani was in the fourth standard. The couple had a son – Akash. Life seemed to turn happier again. Not for long.
“My father had mortgaged our house to get a loan. The debt mounted and we had to sell the house. We moved to Panikkankudi. Our house was two kilometers away from the town. Both I and my sister joined the school. I was in sixth standard. All the teachers were fond of me. I was active in art and sports events in the school. Two years passed on without any complaints.
“Gradually, problems resurfaced at home. Quarrels between our father and stepmother started to be regular. Stepmother became aloof. We sisters were asked to all household chores, including tending to the cow and goats. We suffered a lot, especially my little sister. She had gone through a lot in her short life. We still focused on our studies, as our father told us.
“When I moved to the high school, I joined the students’ police cadet as per the direction of my teachers. We attended parades and camps and other drills. Senior officers came to speak to the students. There used to be a state-level camp for the ninth-standard students. The experience gave me a much-needed distraction from the problems at home.
“The problems at home increased day by day. Father took to drinking. He would spend whatever little he earned. We were perennially staring at poverty. Mother too started acting strange. She would not speak to us. She would not even cook. We had to do all the house work when she went to find a job.
“Something had got into our father’s mind. She blamed my sister for our mother’s death. He would wield his rubber tapper’s knife and create a ruckus every now and then. We would scurry to safety and hide in neighboring houses.
The day tragedy struck
“I can do whatever just to forget November 13, 2014,” Anjani describes the day that changed her life.
“My sister and I were walking home that evening when we heard a commotion from our house. My father was apparently provoked by my stepmother. She had asked him for the money he received for selling a goat. He had thrown out all her stitching work in a fit of rage. He was drunk. He beat up her and also us. Mother passed out. I carried my brother to an inside room. But my father chased me. Mother came to her senses and snatched away her son before fleeing.
Anjani’s mother and father“Father returned a while later asking for his son. He started beating us up again. We ran out of the house to the street a few meters away. Father started chasing us with his knife in hand. He caught up with us near the road. The neighbors were standing there as mute spectators. They did not dare come in our father’s way. He beat us up on the road and then carried my sister home. I sat there wailing.
“I had only my uncles to call for help in such situations. I asked a woman for her mobile phone but she refused. I ran to a classmate’s house and called up my teachers from her phone. They did not let me go back to my house.
“The next day I got the shock of my life. Father hanged my sister and then hanged himself before anyone could interfere. My sister was not dead though. She later died in the hospital. I prayed to all gods to spare her, but in vain. I was all alone. She had passed out when the father forcibly carried her home. He mistook her for dead and hanged her.
“I spent many days crying. My friends from schools and teachers consoled me. Father’s relatives took me to the house at Muniyara. Then there were squabbles among them over my responsibility. The SNDP unit in the neighborhood offered to fund my studies if I got good marks in the tenth standard. They gave me some money every month.
“I started going to the school again. At a class organized by the students’ police cadet, each student was asked about her ambition. I said I wanted to be a doctor. Deputy Inspector General P Vijayan IPS was also present there. He offered to sponsor my education after Deputy Superintendent of Police Saji told him about my plight. I consider Vijayan sir as my god."
“I wanted to leave that land and study well. I joined St Augustine’s School in Thrissur in May last year. Vijayan sir also saw to it that I was admitted into the entrance coaching class run by Professor P.C. Thomas.
“I found it hard to sleep when I came here. Memories kept coming back. I felt I was alone when I saw the other children with their relatives. One of the teachers had a daughter who resembled my sister. She was in fifth-standard when I lost her.
“I learned to live with my sorrows. There are students here who have lost their mothers to cancer. They do not know about me. But I understand their pain.
“I would have been dead too had I returned home that day. God must have a plan for sparing my life. I want to be a doctor and then aim for IPS. I have reached so far only because of the love and support of many people, including Shelly sir, Bhavana teacher, Sebi sir, Shyju sir and Shammi teacher and the officers in the students police cadet, Saji sir, Suresh sir and Mohan sir. I am also indebted to my father’s mother and my friends Cinderella and Aleena.
“I go to Muniyara when I get leaves. Akash is now in LKG. I want him to get a good education.
“There may be many children who have gone through similar experiences. I wish all of them got the same care that I got from my teachers and police officers. No girl should be allowed to cry," Anjani looks determined.
