A dream that struggles to reawaken Premium

Leela Santhosh's journey from alienation to Adivasi filmmaker, intertwined with Baby's educational vision, illuminates resilience and change.

(Trigger warning: The following article contains references to suicide. Please avoid reading if the subject may distress you.) 

In the quaint hamlet of Palukkunnu, located about two km from Anchukunnu town in north Wayanad, Kerala, a young Leela Santhosh underwent a ‘shocking transformation’ that would ultimately shape her destiny. 

“The unfamiliar conditions in a public school inflicted the first shock of my life,” recalls Leela, 37, a member of the Paniya tribal community who embarked on her educational journey three decades ago. Today, she stands as a beacon of hope and creativity for the Adivasi community, having been recognised as the first Adivasi filmmaker from Kerala. 

What came to her rescue was Kanavu (which translates to “dream”), an alternative residential school set up by writer-activist K.J. Baby in 1991 at Cheengode, about two km from the nearest town of Nadavayal. Leela was able to feel at home on the school campus and is now an integral part of it as a trustee. 

The names Kanavu and Baby remained closely intertwined, and the fluctuations in the fortunes of one affected the other. When the school ceased to function in 2007-08, Baby’s dreams took a hit. The death of his wife, Shirley, a retired English professor and his pillar of support, two years ago plunged him into depression. Last week, Baby, 70, took his life at the school kalari, a structure built to train students in the martial art of Kalarippayattu and folk dances. 

Standing on the verdant campus of Kanavu, Leela recounts her days at a public school when her native Paniya tribal tongue was unwelcome by her classmates, who spoke Malayalam. She felt isolated and unwanted. It’s this alienation, she says, that forces tribal children to drop out of school. But life at Kanavu made her feel at home and encouraged her to learn. 

At the heart of Leela’s activism lies a critical examination of the differences between conventional school systems and the special pedagogy Baby formulated for Kanavu. “There is a fundamental difference,” she asserts, emphasising the need for educational methods that resonate with the unique experiences and cultures of marginalised communities.