Sudugada Sidda children beat odds, top PU exam

Manjunath Rudrakshi and cousin Ramesh score 94 p.c. in commerce stream

Satish Rudrakshi (35), moving from house to house blowing conch in a locality in Tumkur, had a reason to smile on Friday. His brother, Manjunath Rudrakshi and his relative Ramesh Rudrakshi, studying at Moodbidri, have done his family and tribe proud by doing well in the II Pre University examinations.

They all belong to the Hindu Sudugada Sidda tribe, known for moving from house to house blowing conch and taking home whatever is offered to them.

“Till now I have seen the achievements of others. Today my brother has done it. It’s a hope of a rosy future for our community,” Mr. Satish said. His brother and Ramesh have scored 94 per cent in commerce stream of II PU examination. “I am happy and want to meet him. But I cannot afford to go all the way to meet him,” he says.

The 19-year-old cousins are among the 70 students from different tribal communities studying at Alva’s Group of Institutions free of cost. Both hail from Lokapur village near Mudhol of Bagalkot district. Members of this nomadic community earn living out of what is offered to them during their visits to houses.

It is the report in a Kannada newspaper that changed the scene for the students. It published a report about the pitiable condition in which Mr. Manjunath and Mr. Ramesh, who had scored 80 per cent marks in the SSLC examination, were living. Alva’s Education Foundation’s Chairman Mohan Alva offered free education to the two. “My parents came down to admit me and Mr. Ramesh here. All the expenses of my education have been borne by the foundation,” Mr. Manjunath said.

Mr. Manjunath wants many from his tribe to get educated. “There are many from our tribe who are brilliant but lack resources for study. They also find it difficult to find a meal. I want to help such people,” he said and added that planned to pursue B.Com in the same institution and simultaneously do Chartered Accountancy. “We have started preparing for common proficiency test to be held next month,” he said.

Mr. Alva said the foundation was bearing the expense of training for the test.

Mr. Manjunath’s collegemate K. Sneha from Koraga tribe from Kumbashi in Kundapur has secured 561 marks in the science stream. “I am hoping for a good ranking in the CET to pursue medicine,” said Ms. Sneha, whose father V. Ganesh Koraga has made it his mission to send children from Koraga community in Kumbashi to schools.