In a T.N. village, a Muslim woman and a Murugan temple bring children closer to education

A heartwarming story of a Muslim woman teaching children in a Murugan temple, fostering unity and education in the community.

As A. Thashlima Nashrin, 25, of Munnamalaipatti in Melur taluk walks into the Murugan temple in Vellaripatti, children rush to greet her. Together, they begin reciting a Tamil poem, which they do routinely before beginning their evening classes.

With a wide smile on her face, Ms. Nashrin takes her usual spot and begins teaching the 20 children who are seated in front of her. While the sight of a Muslim woman walking into a Murugan temple may turn heads elsewhere, the people here are used to this as Ms. Nashrin has been teaching their children for a few years now. In fact, it was the residents themselves who threw open the doors of the temple for her.

The classes started after Ms. Nashrin, a B.A. history graduate, was selected as one of the 13 volunteers for the Vellaripatti panchayat under the Illam Thedi Kalvi (ITK) scheme. The State government launched the scheme in 2021 to address the learning gap in children’s education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since my house is outside the village, I did not want the students to travel far for their classes,” says Ms. Nashrin. The villagers came forward and suggested that she could use the temple to hold her classes.

But she is no stranger to the temple, nor the temple’s deity to her. Her grandmother had prayed at the temple when Ms. Nashrin had an accident and continued to have repeated health issues. Once she had recovered, Ms. Nashrin came to the temple to perform a ritual to the deity to fulfil her grandmother’s vow.

She says the villagers live in harmony, irrespective of the different religions they belong to. “Even during the protests against the tungsten mining project, we all gathered only to protect ‘our’ temples and natural resources. The fraternity and brotherhood that we displayed was not for any religion or caste, but for our own village and people,” she adds.

The ITK scheme was discontinued in the beginning of 2024 after the Tamil Nadu government reviewed the programme locations. “Even after this, I continue tutoring the students either in my house or at the temple,” she says. The programme was helpful in keeping her occupied through the day and earning an additional revenue as her only previous source of income was the welfare assistance she got for her disability.