Shaking of Shackles one after the other

In a tête-à-tête with Greeshma Sukumaran, Uma Preman - the woman of myriad shades

Separation In an ideal world, children live with their parents, experience a sense of belonging and significance, and in the process, learn to be capable and independent as they grow up. But in reality, even those with both their parents still living together, do not come close to this ideal situation. When parents don’t live together, life can become complicated and a test of character. Growing up in Coimbatore, Uma reflects that her early childhood years were quite normal of building dreams, aspirations and hopes. Happy days were those when Uma snuggled in the warmth of her mother, Thankamani. Not for too long! Thankamani turned her back on the family, leaving Uma and her father to fend for themselves. Even then, nothing ever prepared her for a life bereft of a mother’s care or the ridicule society would heap on the already distraught family. Facing flak for a fault, not of their own making, both father and daughter became near recluse unable to stem the barrage of insensitive questions hurled their way by those they once considered family and friends.

in the realisation that it was not their fault that Thankamani deserted them. She had to rise above her circumstances, and she did. Uma took it upon herself the role of mothering her sibling, then aged three. As for Balakrishnan, her father, a difficult life only turned worse after being deserted by his wife. Barely a year into his MBBS course at Chennai Medical College, he was forced to discontinue to take charge of his uncle’s farm. Later, he took up petty jobs at a cloth mill to make ends meet.

Short-lived ReunionPerhaps driven by her innocence and yearning for the care of a mother, Uma set out to reunite with her mother several years later. But if Uma was expecting a change in her fortunes, fate had planned otherwise. Barely out of her teens, she was shocked to find herself betrothed to her mother’s best friend, a man, 22 years older than her with three failed marriages behind him. “When my mother pointed to the man and said he would be my husband, I thought she must be kidding me,” recalls Uma. Thankamani had amassed huge loans and Preman had helped her tide over her financial indiscretions. Upon Uma’s arrival, she found the easy way out of returning the favour, by marrying off Uma to Preman. Betrayed and heartbroken, Uma made futile attempts to get out of the skewed marriage. But the die had already been cast. She had to put up with an abusive husband who would at times bring home drunk friends and torment her as she played host. “Seven years of my marriage were the worst years of my life,” she insists. She saw her world come crashing down right before her eyes. Yet Uma stuck around, not keen to follow in the footsteps of her mother as a runaway wife.

Confronting Illness She found out that her husband was suffering from acute tuberculosis. While tending to him, she visited various healthcare facilities. Preman left for his heavenly abode after a prolonged illness with Uma by his side. With his demise, Uma was again left alone although this time she had her threeyear-old son keeping her company. After Preman’s death, Uma was confronted by people who claimed to be Preman’s heirs. Intriguingly, though the marriage gave her no joy, it had a profound effect on Uma’s outlook on life. And to bring the world’s attention to the battles she had endured in life, Uma did not drop Preman from her name

Beyond Grief All through Preman’s illness, the biggest challenge for Uma was access to information on his medical condition. After Preman’s death, she decided to support those afflicted with pain by making available accurate information on affordable healthcare, gratis. Santhi Medical Information Centre maintains a database on various ailments and information on health facilities available in the country. “When Preman was alive, I always felt my life had become unbearable but was I ready to die, no way!” she affirms. The tinge of sadness is unmistakable in Uma’s voice as she recounts her life, yet she draws her strength from a popular Tamil saying,

Tryst with Adivasis

Another activity that the Centre is associated with is the welfare projects targeting indigenous communities residing in remote parts of the country. When I reached out to Uma before the interview, she had just returned from Attapady, a block in Kerala with a large concentration of indigenous communities. She is spearheading campaigns to uplift and empower the lives of these communities with education, sanitation, agriculture and selfsustaining projects. It saddens her that despite crores being earmarked for welfare, these communities are still fighting for their rights and barely get a share in it. She has been instrumental in establishing several cottage industries under the Santhi banner such as manufacturing napkins and palm leaf plates and thus providing sustainable livelihoods to these communities. Uma has also established APJ Abdul Kalam Residential School in Attappady that provides quality education to the Aadivasi children. Pink Toilet with sanitary napkin vending machines is another unique initiative of Uma’s team in Attapady seeking to maintain menstrual hygiene. This concept has been adopted in several parts of the country, giving credence to the noble work Uma and her team has been doing