During the course of this trip, I met many students, heard their different stories - inspiring, saddening, brave, shocking - all kinds of stories. I met some really beautiful and wonderful people. People in dire straits still living with such dignity! Those stories will come out by and by.
One highlight of the trip was a visit to erstwhile Veerappan hinterlands. Most of the Soliga inhabited areas fall under this category. When I went to Ponnachi, Huchaiah took me to the primary school where he studied. This is an Ashrama Shaale, a residential schools for tribal children.
I started talking with the teachers in my broken Kannada and was pleasantly surprised that some of the teachers knew Tamil. Suddenly the conversation veered towards Veerappan and I was all ears. One of them told me that Veerappan was a friend of his brother and attended his wedding! Another told me how he had seen him strolling around the forests of Ponnachi when he was a teen. Just as the stories started flowing, Huchaiah mentioned that I was a journalist.
Suddenly puzzled looks were exchanged. The topic of conversation changed and before I could do anything about it, I had to leave to meet some people. I told them I was keen to listen to their tales and promised to come back and talk to them.
That evening, a teacher came to me and said that everything he told me was one big joke! It was so sad! They just did not want to talk to me after that. Later Huchaiah told me that the locals are still petrified of the police and fear harassment. This, so many years after Veerappan's death!
Shobha S.V.
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