Cheruvayal Raman lives on in Sajith’s fond memories
Teacher A Sajith fondly recalls visiting veteran farmer Cheruvayal Raman to learn traditional agriculture. Sajith hopes Raman’s textbook inclusion will inspire children to value both education and farming.
Teacher A Sajith fondly recalls visiting veteran farmer Cheruvayal Raman to learn traditional agriculture. Sajith hopes Raman’s textbook inclusion will inspire children to value both education and farming.
Teacher A Sajith fondly recalls visiting veteran farmer Cheruvayal Raman to learn traditional agriculture. Sajith hopes Raman’s textbook inclusion will inspire children to value both education and farming.
Sreekandapuram: A Sajith had planned to visit Wayanad on October 25 to meet his old friend Cheruvayal Raman. Instead, he is now left with memories of their years together, from walks through paddy fields to meals shared in Raman’s thatched home.
Sajith, a teacher at St Michael’s School in Kannur, had spoken to Raman last week to arrange the visit. When he called again recently, however, Raman’s daughter-in-law answered and told him that the veteran farmer was undergoing treatment at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.
Sajith first met Raman while teaching at a BEd college. He took Malayalam students from PKM College, Madampam, to Raman’s home and paddy fields, where they learnt about more than 70 traditional paddy varieties. The visit ended with the group sharing a meal on banana leaves on the cow dung-plastered floor of Raman’s thatched home.
Years later, when Sajith became course director at the Mananthavady BEd Centre, he returned with 50 students and teachers as part of a programme titled Ellavarum Paadath (Everyone to the Fields). This time, the group joined Raman in the paddy fields and experienced traditional farming first-hand.
Sajith visited Raman several more times over the years, often bringing friends and family members along. Raman welcomed them warmly, sharing the rhythms of village life in Wayanad and his knowledge of traditional farming.
“He would always tell children to keep a book in one hand and a farming tool in the other,” Sajith recalls.
An excerpt from Raman’s autobiography, published by Manorama Books, has now been included in the Malayalam textbook for Class VII. Sajith hopes the lesson will carry Raman’s message to a new generation, encouraging children to value both education and farming.