G. Dhevayani, 17, who had scored top marks at the Tirupparankundram Girls’ Higher Secondary School in the Class 12 exams, says she is different from her batch-mates.
“I’ve travelled across Tamil Nadu with my family, telling fortunes using the traditional kudukuduppu . My house is a tent, and doesn’t have electricity supply. That is the difference,” she says.
Ms. Dhevayani, who hails from a tribal family, scored 500/600 in the board exams. K. Sivagami, the headmistress of her school, says she has always been among her top students. “She proved me right with her scores,” she adds.
A student of commerce, Ms. Dhevayani hopes to work in a bank some day.
Her family lives in a settlement — which is also home to 60 other fortune-teller families — in Thenparankundram outside Madurai city. The men belonging to this nomadic tribe usually go door-to-door and recite fortunes. On days when luck is on their side, they get paid around ₹300. On other days, they satiate their hunger by just drinking tea.
“During the term holidays, the whole family travels across the State in a small cart. I have seen them (her parents) struggle to eke out a living. This has, over the years, fuelled the need for me to perform well in academics,” she says.
When she isn’t studying, Ms. Dhevayani makes wire baskets for sale. The more complicated the design, the higher the price, she says. The intricately designed ones are priced at ₹250 each.
Ms. Dhevayani says she is among the few girls in her settlement who have passed Class 12. “We have, only now, seen a rise in the number of girls who have studied till Class 12 over the last five years. Not many girls go to college, though they study well,” she says, adding, “This is because it is a struggle to get community certificates from the government which state clearly that they are [from the] Scheduled Tribes. This is besides the financial problems they face.”
R. Maheswari, secretary of TENT Society, a non-governmental organisation that works with nomadic tribes in Madurai, says the government had provided community certificates to around 20 people from the settlement in March. “A total of 15 families from this settlement are yet to be recognised. It has been a long struggle,” she says.
Ms. Dhevayani adds that it has also taken a certain degree of effort to convince her family to let her study in college. Her father, B. Ganesh, says he has decided to send her to college after speaking to elders in the community, volunteers from TENT Society and teachers at her school.
“I’m not educated and don’t have much money. So I was concerned about having to send her to the city to study. I’ve always known that she is a good student. However, I was concerned about finances,” he says.
Ms. Maheswari says her organisation has been attempting to mobilise funds for Ms. Dhevayani’s education. “I’m sure that when I start working, my family will not have to starve. I want to head to college now,” Ms. Dhevayani says.
