THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Siblings Sooryadev and Sooryagayathri have become celebrities in their remote village of Malayikkada near Neyyattinkara. The Class VII and Class II students of Government UP School, Manchavilakam, never thought that their small savings would turn out to be a blessing for their schoolmates who don’t have access to television to attend the virtual education programme ‘First Bell’.
Sooryadev and his younger sister Sooryagayathri collected Rs 4,312 in their tiny savings box over the last one-and-a-half years. Since this was less than what they needed to buy TV sets, they insisted on their parents Biju and Sini to help. Biju is a mechanical chargeman of KSRTC bus station in Neyyattinkara depot.
Biju spoke to school headmistress S Sandhya. She encouraged the family to help the kids. Biju conveyed the matter to his colleagues and the KSRTC employees union. He donated Rs 5,000, including his share, as their contribution to the union. This became an inspiration to all employees and many more came forward to take part in the gesture.
Finally, they bought an LED television and handed it over to the school, in the presence of Sooryadev and Sooryagayathri.“We are common people. We can’t afford to buy a costly television. But my children at least tried. This made us proud and their gesture didn’t just inspire us, but the entire members of our union,” Biju said.According to Sandhya, school headmistress, the television will be handed over to a deserving family soon.
“As many as 14 students belonging to 11 families in the school have no television sets. They are now studying at a nearby library.Other organisations have come forward to hand over television sets to other students as well. Thus many students in the remote areas of Manchavilakam, Marayamuttom, Perinkadavila and Keezharoor in the hilly areas near Neyyattinkara can attend classes from their homes. Suryadev and Sooryagayathri deserve a lot of appreciation for their noble act,” she said.