The sun was setting against the backdrop of the Mananchira pond on Sunday when a small group of energetic college students from Lakshadweep settled down for a conversation below the Time Tides sculpture at the nearby ground.
“We are bearing the consequences of not having the presence of a strong media in our native place. There are no platforms to air our problems,” said C.P. Anwar, a second year B.Com student from one of the study centres of Calicut University in the cluster of islands.
He was part of the group which will participate in the inter-zone youth festival that begins at the Malabar Christian College on Monday.
It is after a gap of five years that a group from Lakshadweep is participating in the festival. They are all set to exhibit their talent in ‘oppana’, mime, group song, mono act, and ‘mappilappattu’ among others. The main attraction, however, will be their rendering of ‘dolippattu’, an indigenous musical programme native to the islands.
“Take for instance our participation in the youth festival. Initially, the plan was to bring 60 students. As funds were not released in time, the number came down to 18,” says Anwar. Moreover, parents were hostile in the first place, and some students had to chip in whatever little savings they had to find money for travel.
Mohammed Hidayathullah K.M., a second year B.A. (Politics) student, says the journey to Kozhikode had its share of problems too. “We were crammed inside the bunk in a ship. Boys had to spread out a bed sheet on the floor and sleep. Girls had to manage themselves on the tiny cots available,” he says. They spent one day and a night in the ship to reach Kochi and boarded a bus from there.
Lack of support
Anwar blames the lack of support from the higher authorities on the islands for their current situation, saying the study centres are yet to get proper infrastructure. “There are no good canteens. Hostels are untidy and students often are forced to sleep on the floor. There are not enough books in libraries, and labs do not have good equipment either,” he adds. One of the staffers who accompanied the students says that the students’ request to provide air-conditioning in the micro-biology lab is yet to be addressed.
As we wound up the conversation, there was darkness all around, but their exuberance was more than enough to pierce it through.
