The Ahikuntaka

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Kali Amma the woman who strayed away from tradition
While walking towards the partially built hut of Kali Amma, who
resides on the banks of the Mahakanadarawa tank with others from
her community, we heard what seemed like an ongoing session of
prayer.
‘Pray to god to take out the devil that lies within you, Jesus Christ
suffered on the cross because of your sins and he was only 33 years
old. What a young age is that to go through such trauma? I’m
35 now, he was younger than me at the time’ we heard someone
preach.
When we peered into the house we saw a young man conducting
the sermon. Behind him was a picture of Jesus Christ and in front
was what looked like a replica of the holy bible. The man was
seated on a chair while a small group of people, including children,
congregated around him. It was within this mini congregation that
we found Kali Amma.
The predominantly Telingu speaking population in this village
had migrated to this location an year before the dawn of the new
millennium. When we inquired about their lives, we were told that
the new village had very little infrastructure or facilities to live a
comfortable life.
The villagers had sheltered themselves within a few ‘cadjan huts’
and faced threats from marauding herds of wild elephant. Wild
elephants are generally feared by villagers as they raid crops and
cause damage to life and property.
It was during this period that ‘Kali Amma’ rose to fame, speaking
on behalf of the villagers who faced a multitude of obstacles in
continuing their day-to-day lives. She used her eloquence to openly
appeal to the authorities through both the print and electronic
media in order to draw attention to the plight faced by her people.
She was, for a while, representing her village as its sole leader.
The moment she knew that we had come to meet her she moved
out of the sermon and greeted us. However she seemed weary of
talking to us, reasons which none of us had any idea about.
‘I have spoken on behalf of our villagers many times and I have
had to face many problems, created not by outsiders who were
supposed to, but by the very people I spoke on behalf of. Therefore
I decided to move away from this and not to speak again. The
leader now is a man called Aloysius’ she said.
We were fascinated by her story and intended to pursue it. We
continued with what is normally termed as ‘small talk’ in order to
familiarise with her and after a while she seemed to want to talk.
‘We are Buddhists and our children attend Sunday school at the
temple. However we also receive a lot of help from the Church.
The pastor visits us every Sunday and pray for us. He teaches us
the intricacies of the religion itself and pray for those who are
incapacitated. But some villagers do not participate in these prayer
sessions. There is a child who is paralysed below his waist and
despite many appeals to his parents to bring the child for prayers,
they are yet to come’ she said lamenting at the fate that has befallen
the child.
We figured that this confession was indeed a good start to continue
our conversation. It was interesting to note that she didn’t seem to
know if she was a follower of Christianity and simply referred to
her faith as the ‘religion of the Bible’.
We asked her about the traditions and culture surrounding the
society that she is a part of. She was at first reluctant to speak about
it as was evidence by her long silence, and then again she opened
up.
44 The Ahikuntaka Kali Amma the woman who strayed away from tradition