It's a love story 😊

Our protagonist, Vivek (from the couple seen in the left), is from Ambodala, a village which is around 92 Kms from Rayagada. Anticipating a better and practical future, in his mid-teen years, Vivek left his village for Chennai.

Rayagada is a district in Odisha, listed as one of the 250 most backward districts of the country by the ministry of Panchayati Raj in 2006.  It's population is around 10 lakhs, 57% of which is tribal residents. It shares border with Andhra Pradesh and has the presence of left wing extremists.

His work in a factory in Chennai was going smooth. Vivek's life became more vibrant with the arrival of Amrutha, who is from a village 15 kms away from his. They fell in love and without further delay, got married; thus got ousted from the place they were residing in. They gradually came under the shadow of the common and painsful title, 'jobless'.

Here comes the man, Rajkumar Malik, Vivek's neighbour and friend, who advised them to move to Kerala and stay with him and his wife Bharati.

Raja has four brothers and three elder sisters. He came to Kerala at the age of 12, with his eldest brother. But his age attracted no work. He was too young for taking responsibilities. Six months later, he went back to his village with an intention to study.

Within a few months, he realised his abilities didn't lie in studies and resorted back to Kerala without informing anyone (he pointed out the incompetence of the teachers and the educational system as a reason behind his journey to Kerala).

He spent days in railway stations, told authorities that he was an orphan whenever they seized him. (As he didnt have proper identity cards) After a long, tiring search he found his first job in a hotel kitchen. Followed by many such jobs. Now he works as a chapathi maker in a Food factory near Thodupuzha, Kerala.

Just before the pandemic, Raja made a final visit to his village. During his stay there, his eldest brother died. Rajkumar's family believed his paternal uncle jinxed his food causing his death after few days, without any visible symptoms.

It was during the last day of the funeral ceremony, Bharati (Raja's cousin  and lover for years) revealed her plan to shift to Kerala with her friends, with the same reasons Raja had in mind at the time when he left his village.

Raja was not pleased with her decision. He resisted, even tried to stop her warning about an imminent break-up. But she made it to Kerala a few weeks before Raja returned, and acquired a job in a fish factory in Cochin.

They got married three months ago and are staying together near Raja's work place.

"Did you marry officially after informing your families?" I asked Raja.

Bharati interrupted and said "Yes, it was a love marriage. Our families are happy about it. We will report and sign at the police station on our next visit to village."

Yes, it was a love marriage. That makes sense.

From the series HOME. Taken from Udumbannoor, Thodupuzha