Sudheesh Kumar- Aanavaya hamlet, Attapadi.

Sudheesh at his house in Aanavaya hamlet. Attapadi.

In the photograph, Sudheesh, a 24-year-old is a resident of Aanavaya, a hamlet located within the Silent Valley National Park. Sudheesh is a sportsman from the Kurumba tribe who has been forced to halt his athletic pursuits due to financial struggles. Despite this setback, Sudheesh has recently cleared exams in the Excise Department of Kerala and is now waiting for his appointment letter.

Sudheesh standing infront of the houses that built under the projects of AHADS. They hadnt finished the work fully, thus those are abandoned.

Sudheesh has an interesting background. His mother, Kurumbi, was married to Kali in Aanavaya hamlet and gave birth to two children. The second child was named Senthala after Kali's father. Sudheesh told that both the grandfathers passed away when he was young, but he has heard many stories about their heroics from the villagers.

Senthala, who was three years old at the time, was named Sudheesh Kumar by a doctor during a medical camp. His elder brother Aneesh Kumar was also named in a similar manner. Unfortunately, their father Kali had passed away before all this.

Sudheesh started his primary schooling in Palakkad, which limited his connection with the hamlet to his vacation days from the hostel. He completed his education up to undergraduate degree through different sports academies in Kerala.

Kurumbi.

Before 2010, the roads to Aanavaya hamlet were not constructed, making the hamlet and nearby areas easily accessible to extremist groups. During this time, Unnikrishnan, also known as Sundaran, visited the hamlet as an active supporter of the extreme left ideology. Over time, he started staying in Kurumbi's house during his visits.

Sundaran who was once an active supporter of extreme left ideology.

“This man is from Manarkad. He knows several languages. We would be surprised by hearing his English”, Sudheesh told.

However, in the early years of the last decade, Sundaran was arrested for his involvement in a blast in the hamlet. He was imprisoned for several years but was eventually released after five years, after presenting certificates proving that he was Kurumbi's husband.

“Mother (Kurumbi) didn’t know to read. But she signed. I came to know about it when I was 12 years old. I had read some of that papers secretly when I was at home for vacation from boarding school”, Sudheesh told.

Sudheesh and friend are at Pazhayoor, a far away hamlet from the present play ground. They went there to bring players into the ground as they do not have two wheelers.

Sudheesh returned home several months ago and is waiting for his appointment order. He is making the most of his time by building a football ground for children in Attapadi, where they can receive basic training from a young age. One person who treated Sudheesh as family during his years of study allowed him to build the ground on his land in Thavalam. Sudheesh chose this location for the ground because it is easily accessible from several hamlets in Puthooran and Agali Panchayath.

warming up in a ground at Gottiyarkhandi hamlet which is less than 15 meters in length.

At the spot where the new groud is being ready.

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