Tale of Thanku & Meetu cat now in tribal dialect

Idukki: “Chundaneli mariyavethu poonakunju vuneya. Kunchikkalu nonthavethu poonakunju kuthari aekane myavu myavu (The kitty fell down as the mouse tricked it, the kitty mewed in pain as it hurt its legs),” the words sounded quite peculiar and distinct.

This is a lesson for Class I students from the Mannan tribal community in the state. Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) announced a version of “Thanku Poocha and Meetu Poocha”, the online class by Sai Swetha teacher for Class I, in the local Mannan dialect. Rajimol Rajesh, hailing from the Mannan community, held the cutouts of two kittens and introduced their tales to the children of the community who understand only their tribal dialect.

“Rajimol, a volunteer at the local talent centre in Mannakkudy in Anchuruli, presented the Mannan version of the online class. The recording is complete and it will be telecast through Victers channel from next week,” said Dhanya T Vasu, programme officer, SSK. “However, Rajimol teacher will not be able to watch her online class since she does not have access to a mobile phone,” she added.

“Mannan community is one of the main tribal communities in the district. The children of the community are attending school for the first time and they don’t understand Malayalam. Hence, we thought of classes in their own dialect. About 300 students from the community will benefit from the classes,” Dhanya said.

“We have recorded online classes in other tribal dialects for communities from Malappuram and Palakkad districts. We hope to attract them and provide initial education in their own dialects,” she said.