THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 18 November 2006 — K.V. Rabiya, the wheelchair-bound champion of Kerala’s literacy movement, is facing yet another test of her life.
Crippled by polio at an early age, tragedy first struck in the form of breast cancer and then she had a fall that damaged her spine. But the 40-year-old Muslim woman is confidence personified.
“Your dedicated service reminds me of the words of former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt that‚ ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself‚”’ Governor R.L. Bhatia wrote to her last month after reading excerpts in English from her forthcoming autobiography. Daughter of a smalltime ration shopowner, Rabiya, has no regrets.
“My advice is when you lose a leg, you’ll stand on the other,” she said. “And when you lose both legs, you have your hands. When fate chops them off too, you will live on the strength of your brains.”
Though she is confined to a bed, she is busy giving final touches to her book, Mounanombarangal, or “Silent Tears”, which will hit the stands later this month.
“I have difficulty in writing but I hope the book would be a great inspiration for many people like me,” says the woman who spearheaded the movement that changed the profile of the poor, rural Muslim-dominated district.
In the literacy movement, empowering women, fostering communal amity and inculcating reading habits in women, Rabiya has proved that nothing can stop her.
“My education stopped abruptly at 17 when polio crippled me badly,” she said. “Initially, I thought it was the end of the road for me. Then I turned to reading in a big way,” Rabia recalls how she pieced together her early life.
A quick learner and excellent communicator, Rabiya started teaching neighborhood children. But when total literacy campaign began in the state, she took a deep plunge and soon became a light of the literacy movement. Her early students include her mother and grandmother.
“When we achieved total literacy, I turned to women empowerment, distributing medicine packets and training them in envelope and candle making,” she said. “I put my hand on cottage industries to help others.”
Thanks to Rabiya, more than 250 women of her village are getting steady income. Her organization regularly holds awareness camps to discuss different social issues.
“I am happy that suicide, dowry and infant mortality rates have come down drastically,” she explains while admitting that her finances are no more in good shape.
Her organization, Chalanam, or “Movement”, has 100 volunteers and it runs half a dozen schools for the physically challenged in her Vellikkad village and nearby areas. The volunteers gather at her house regularly to take instructions.
Recipient of several honors, including a UNESCO award for social work, Jamnalal Bajaj Award, Jaycees International Award, National Youth Award, she was also in the forefront of the “Akshaya: Bridging the Digital Divide” project that made Malappuram the first e-literate district in India.
“It was a great pleasure to see many people in their 60s and 70s coming to the class with slates and pencils. I was really thrilled when my grandma called me teacher,” says Rabiya.
A staunch believer, she spends a lot of time reading the Holy Qur’an.
