MBA graduate from Kerala Paniya tribal community has a reason to be at School Kalolsavam

When Manikandan C, the first and only MBA graduate from Kerala’s Paniya community, arrived in Thrissur for this year’s Kerala School Kalolsavam, he was not chasing trophies. His purpose was quieter but firm: to assert that tribal art forms are not extensions of folk traditions, but living cultural expressions with identities of their own, and to reclaim them from distortion and imitation. “Kalolsavam is where perceptions are shaped. If tribal art is misrepresented here, the damage lasts for years,” said the 36-year-old, popularly known as Manikuttan Paniyan, a native of Mananthavady in Wayanad.

His concern deepened in 2025, when tribal art forms were introduced at the School Kalolsavam for the first time. Serving as a judge at the sub-district and district levels, Manikandan found most performances deeply disconnected from their roots. “Many students learned from YouTube videos. Others were trained by folk-song instructors who assumed tribal art is the same as folk art. That assumption is fundamentally wrong,” he told Onmanorama. The newly introduced events included Mangalamkali, Paniya Nirtham, Malapulayattam, Irula Nritham and Paliya Nirtham. While their inclusion was historic after years of demands from tribal communities, Manikandan felt authenticity was being compromised.

This year, he decided to intervene directly as a trainer. He worked with seven teams—six in Paniya Nirtham and one in Mangalamkali from schools in Palakkad, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Ernakulam, besides Wayanad—and all secured A grades. Training began four months in advance. “If authenticity is to survive, it cannot remain confined to one region. It has to travel,” he said. Managing schedules across districts was challenging, especially at the state level, where multiple teams performed on the same day. “Coordination with school authorities made it possible,” he said.

Alongside Manikandan, a few others from the Paniya community also stepped in as trainers this year. Still, he points to a structural imbalance. “Tribal trainers are paid poorly, while schools continue to rely on folk instructors for tribal events,” he said. In response, they formed a collective of judges and trainers from within the community to ensure accuracy. The impact, he noted, was visible. “Some schools that hired folk trainers were confused after watching our students perform. They could not tell which version was right. That confusion itself was a kind of revolution.”

Manikandan’s own life mirrors the gaps he speaks of. A graduate in Economics from Newman’s College, Mananthavady, he completed his MBA in Finance and Marketing from Vedavyasa Institute of Technology under the University of Calicut in 2013. "To this day, I remain the only MBA graduate from the Paniya community. That alone shows the depth of the crisis,” he said. He credits his mother and elder sisters, daily-wage workers, and friends who supported him through a difficult childhood marked by his father’s alcoholism. “Nowadays, many assume tribals receive enough support from the government and hesitate to help. That is far from the truth.”

Despite his qualifications, Manikandan stayed away from a conventional career. “I never felt comfortable being confined to a system,” he said. “How can I focus only on my own life when my community is still struggling?” After postgraduation, he worked on government projects under the tribal department, documenting issues and proposing solutions. “There was little political will to act. Projects were eventually shut down, citing lack of funds,” he said. He also remains critical of political representation among tribal communities. “Kerala has 36 tribal communities. The Paniyas are the largest, yet no party has fielded a Paniya candidate. They prefer relatively better-off communities,” he said. Though the BJP offered him a ticket from Mananthavady in the 2021 Assembly elections, he declined. “I felt it was an attempt to trap me,” he said, adding that he would consider contesting in the future if offered a UDF or LDF ticket.

Years of grassroots work have also shaped his understanding of power. “Without political power, advocacy remains symbolic,” he said, pointing out that many Paniya settlements still lack basic amenities like toilets, while access to education and jobs remains limited. Education, women’s empowerment, health and orphan care would be his priorities if he enters mainstream politics.

Manikandan is also a co-founder of the Adi Shakti Summer School, launched in 2016 under the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha. The collective supports Adivasi and Dalit students through admission guidance, financial aid, hostels and mentorship. “Around 250 students are now pursuing a degree or postgraduate courses with our support,” he said, adding that delays in government aid often force students to drop out.

With the backing of his wife, Greeshma, and daughter, Anamika, Manikandan says he will continue training students for future Kalolsavams. “Authenticity is not optional,” he said. “It is the essence of who we are.”