Malkangiri: A tribal woman from Malkangiri district who was an active Maoist till a few years back is now living a life of redemption, training her daughter who is showing signs of a successful sportsperson in the making.
Chellamma Karam of Padia village says she is seeking to turn a new leaf from being an embittered ex-Maoist who served two jail terms to a legitimate citizen of the country whose main priority right now is to ensure a proper upbringing for her daughter Sireesha, who is a Class-IX student.
Chellamma has by all accounts had a tough childhood, which she says partly drove her to join the Maoist fold.
“I lost my parents in 1989 when I was 13 years old. That same year, some people impersonating local Maoist leaders tried to rape me. I escaped and went straight to a meeting being organised by the Maoists and told them what happened. They punished my attackers, which motivated me to join the rebels. I became a regular member ever since,” Chellamma recalls.
However, she was arrested five years later by Andhra Pradesh police in 1994. She subsequently served jail time for six years in Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam prisons. After coming out of jail, however, she went back to join the Maoists, since according to her there was nowhere else she could go.
Back in the fold, she married a fellow Maoist and in due course became pregnant. The hard life soon began taking a toll on her health, and she soon surrendered before the then district collector of Malkangiri. She was lodged in jail again as there were several cases pending against her.
This time however, Chellamma vowed to reform herself and make herself a productive part of society. “I swore to make a change, not just for myself but for my baby. The collector was a good man and he arranged a job as a cook at a Kanyashram in Kalimela on account of my good behavior in 2000. I soon gave birth to Sireesha and since then I’ve been taking care of her as well as other girls,” Chellamma says.
Chellamma inspired her daughter to excel at sports, and the girl after getting trained at the local sports hostel has won prizes for her performances at several national-level volleyball tournaments. The mementos occupy place of pride in their modest home.
“Sireesha won gold medals twice at state-levels events and her performances in Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat show the promise of a star in the making,” her proud mother says. PNN