A twist to Biju Menon's Rakshadhikari Baiju in real life: These youngsters in Alappuzha reclaimed their playground

Baiju in the award-winning movie Rakshadhikari Baiju failed to save the ground where he and his friends grew up playing, from the clutches of concrete jungles. However, faced with a similar circumstance, a group of youngsters in Kayikkara, Alappuzha, didn’t relent.
They got together under their arts and sports club to buy the 13.5 cent property that was set to be sold by its owner, by collecting money, pledging properties and jewelleries over a period of three months.
Sreenath G S, the 28-year-old executive committee member of Brothers’ Arts and Sports Club, says, “We had a similar experience as Baiju and friends in the film, but in it they succumb to the financial and societal pressures. But we are not ready to give our playground away. We have been playing here since I remember. Everybody in this village has fond memories about the ground. Cricketer Prasanth Parameswaran began his tryst with cricket here.”

The ground has been maintained well by the youngsters and it has only served to increase its popularity over the years. “It is known as a cricket stadium across Alappuzha. We have also been conducting football and volleyball tournaments,” he says.
However, three months ago, they were hit with the hard truth, that their ground was being sold. “We thought it was poramboku land and didn’t in our wildest dreams think that somebody will take it away from us,” he says.
But that’s what almost happened when a few strangers started building a fence around their playground. “When we enquired, they said that property belonged to Varghese from Paravoor and he had sold it to someone,” recollects Sreenath.

However, the deal hadn’t gone through and the interested buyer told the youngsters that he was in two minds as he liked playing and didn’t want to buy a playground. While that came as a temporary relief, a few weeks later the owner’s party re-started building the fence and “when we objected, they filed a complaint against us for encroachment,” Sreenath says.
The club members then decided to come to a compromise with the owner. “However, they said that they cannot give us the property as they can get `2 lakh per cent. After a lot of negotiations with the support of our panchayath president and ward member, they agreed to give us for `36,000 per cent. But the biggest challenge was that we had to give `2 lakh as advance in five days with the clause that if we fail, the ground will not be ours,” he says.
Most of the club members are labourers, but they did not want a building in place of a playground, says Sreenath. “However, in the first committee meeting, majority said they cannot afford to buy it as they are struggling to make both ends meet. Finally, a few agreed to give `10,000. And we collected nearly `1.5 lakh,” he says, adding that even a little boy donated `1,000 to the collection. Majority pledged their gold and borrowed on interest.
Rakshadhikari Balachandran
Once they submitted the advance, the next task was to make another `2 lakh. “We decided to ask villagers, who then donated `20,000. That is when Ajesh, one of our committee members and a teacher, said that he can take a personal loan and help. The rakshadhikari of our club, Balachandran, 58, said he can pledge his property and take a bank loan,” he says. Gathering every penny they could, the team managed to give the entire amount on April 25, five days before the promised date.
“Now, the playground is in our club’s name but still the struggle continues as we have a debt of `3 lakh. We are planning to donate `1,000 per month to clear the debt. We are confident that we will win ultimately and have no plans to give up,” he says.
So, why go the whole nine yards for a selfless deed such as this? “It is for our next generation. What would they do if there is no ground for them to play? They will become couch potatoes and many would even take up drugs. We have already seen a few like that. Children need physical activities,” he says.