Braving umpteen odds, Malavika, 15, from the tribal belt of Attappady in the district, scored A plus in all her subjects in the last SSLC examination and dreams of becoming a doctor.
Her widowed mother Jayasree, a cook in her own school, the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School in Agali, says, “It is a dream that we can’t even think of.”
Of the 180 students who appeared for the examination, Malavika was the only one who secured A+ in all. She has a sister who is doing Plus two.
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Malavika is inspired by Kamalakshi, the first doctor from the Muduga community in Attappady. Dr. Kamalakshi is now serving in the Government Taluk Hospital, Kottarakara as an ophthalmologist. Her husband Prabhudas, is the Deputy District Medical Officer in Palakkad.
Malavika met Dr. Prabhudas at a recently held tribal meet at Chavadiyoor. Dr. Prabhudas told her that he would extend all help to pursue medical studies. He advised her to enroll in some good entrance coaching institute and he would help in identifying one which is near to her home.
Malavika’s lives in a one-room thatched house at Nellepathy, four km. from her school in Agali.
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N.C. Induchoodan, nodal officer for all the government programmes in Attappady, assured her all possible help from the Attappady Hill Area Development Society (AHADS). In Attappady, there are a number of flex boards with Malavika's picture and announcing her achievement. A felicitation is being planned for Malavika. There are also plans to collect funds for her studies.