Kerala - Thrissur   

Triumph over troubles

By K. Santhosh

ON A HAPPY NOTE: K. M. Sreekala, a music student at Kerala Kalamandalam Higher Secondary School, who topped the arts group of Plus Two examinations.

THRISSUR, MAY 18. Overcoming a sea of troubles, she has made it to the top. The story of K. M. Sreekala, ranked first in the arts group of Plus Two examinations, is one of sheer determination. When she was in the third class, her father was killed in an accident.

``He went out on a bicycle. Sometime later, his body was brought into the house. My sister, Sreeja, who was in the eighth class, told me we will not see our father again. I didn't grasp its gravity then,'' Sreekala says.

Those were hard times. Her mother, Valsala, did not have a job. ``Poverty stared us in the face,'' Sreekala remembers.

Valsala worked in a diamond-cutting unit for a while. ``But my mother could not continue there.

Her eyesight was failing. The misfortunes were too much for us to bear. Sometimes, there wouldn't be enough food in the house,'' Sreekala remembers.

Despite the travails, Valsala made sure that her children pursued their studies. Sreeja passed the SSLC examinations, and got married to a car driver, Unnikrishnan, last October.

After completing the seventh class from the Government Model Girl's School here, Sreekala joined the Kerala Kalamandalam, with the support and encouragement of her uncle and Kathakali artiste, Kalamandalam Krishnakumar.

Teachers noticed her singing talent and encouraged her to study classical music. ``At Kalamandalam, I got to listen to the tapes of masters. Among my favourite contemporary singers are the Hyderabad brothers,'' Sreekala says.

Things have started looking up for her family. ``Sometime ago, my mother got a job as a sweeper at a Government hospital. We also moved to the Government quarters,'' Sreekala says. Her ambition is to be a music teacher. ``But we don't know whether we'll be able to pay for Sreekala's higher studies,'' Sreeja says.

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