Higher education no longer a distant dream for these Nilgiris young people

When sunbeams cut through the drifting mist, tea-stained fingers had already gained their working rhythm. Glimpses were snatched from the group of strangers who had walked into hills whose brows were furrowed with lush green estates, hidden within rich hues of Nilgiris blue.

The visiting students from Madras Christian College for the field visit were greeted with curious glances from the villagers, all of them except one young woman in the village. Her questioning eyes, which beckoned the team to sit beside her, were rewarded with a fresh spark of hope that surpassed the horizon of her small village. The chemistry class students and their motivational stories of education in a faraway world were etched in M Seetha's memory.

For the 120 Kurumba families living in the Katachanakolli village, higher education is a far-off fantasy since they can hardly afford to purchase a square meal a day. The majority of the residents were tea plantation laborers, and a majority of the children discontinued their studies after primary or secondary school because of poverty, as well as inadequate infrastructure. But Seetha, a resident of the Adivasi hamlet village, would not put her dreams to sleep.

She was 23 when she became the village's first postgraduate. Having completed her Master's in Social Work from the Madras Christian College this year, more than a personal achievement — it was a milestone for her people of Katachanakolli. Seetha says the village is vulnerable to human-wildlife conflict, and the nearest government higher secondary school (GHSS) is 12 km away at Devarshola.

"For primary level, we have a panchayat school, but from Class 8 onwards, we have to attend the GHSS in Devarshola. I was able to pursue my studies as an NGO had given me free accommodation, in a hostel they were operating," said Seetha.

It wasn't easy. My mother, a daily wage labourer in a tea garden, is the only breadwinner for the family of six. My father suffers from TB. At times, we even didn't have food to eat. While I was on holidays, whenever I returned home, I used to work as a labourer in the tea gardens to help my family," Seetha said.

After Class 12, she enrolled herself into a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) course in Government Arts and Science College, Gudalur.

"By the time I was able to convince my parents to permit me to go to college, the admissions for most of the courses had already closed down, except for BSW," she mentioned. It was at the time of her graduation that the student community from Madras Christian College came to the village to conduct their field study and thus opened a window for her to learn about MCC.

"Persuading my parents to let me pursue a master's in Chennai was an uphill task as it was exhausting both of them financially and emotionally," Seetha revealed. But her resolve not to quit overpowered the fears of her family. Once in Chennai, she threw herself into studying and working to sustain herself.

"Having come to know about Seetha, we gave her full support to finish the course. We have a tribal and differently abled cell to motivate them to study higher education in our college," MCC principal Paul Wilson said. Seetha is a living example of Paulo Coelho's lines — "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

Having returned to her village, Seetha is keen to give back as she currently works with village children and challenges parents to place value in education. "With my project, I am creating an awareness among my people of the importance of education. I want to make them realize that one can dream big, even for children of a small village like ours," she said. A master's degree, an entry into the world, was the start of more hope for her village for this twenty-three-year-old.