After four years at State Kalolsavam, govt to build house for tribal Bharatanatyam dancer Sachu

Thrissur: After four consecutive years on the stage of the Kerala State School Kalolsavam, Sachu Satheesh (16), a Bharatanatyam dancer from Kasaragod’s Mala Vettuvan tribal community, is finally set to have a house of his own.

Announcing the decision at the Kalolsavam venue in Thrissur, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said the General Education Department would build a house for Sachu and his mother, Bindu MK (40), after resolving technical issues related to the land.

Sachu, a Class XI student of Government Higher Secondary School, Kamballur, is a familiar face at the State Kalolsavam, where he has consistently secured A grades in boys’ Bharatanatyam. At this year’s festival in Thrissur, too, he won A grades in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Kerala Natanam, a classical dance form that evolved from Kathakali.

In a Facebook post, Sivankutty said the government had decided to stand by the family after learning about their circumstances through media reports. “There is no need for Sachu and his mother to worry anymore. The government will be with them to build a home,” he wrote.

Bindu said she and Sachu met both Sivankutty and Revenue Minister K Rajan, separately, at the venue and submitted requests seeking a house.

The family currently lives in a two-bedroom house at Sarkaria Colony for Scheduled Tribes at Kadumeni in Kasaragod’s East Eleri hill panchayat. The house belongs to Bindu’s elder sister, Lakshmi M K, and is shared by seven members — Bindu, Lakshmi, their mother Vellachi, Sachu, Lakshmi’s husband, and their two children.

Onmanorama had earlier reported on Sachu’s struggles and achievements in December 2022.

Sachu’s father, Satheesh P R, a headload worker, died of a heart attack on March 29, 2018 — three days before Sachu turned nine. Since then, the boy has been raised by his mother, aunt, and grandmother. Bindu works under the rural job guarantee scheme to support the family.

Her husband Satheesh had earlier received 15 cents of land from his father, on which the family built a house. However, after his death, his two siblings also staked a claim to the property. “We cannot blame them because their condition is no different from ours,” Bindu said.

Sivankutty said the obstacle was technical. “Necessary instructions have been conveyed over the phone to Trikaripur MLA M Rajagopalan to resolve the land-related issues,” the Minister said. “Once that is settled, the General Education Department will initiate steps to build a house for Sachu.”

Bindu said she was relieved that the government had responded positively. “But we can celebrate only when we finally have a house of our own,” she told Onmanorama over the phone from Thrissur.