A 'revolution' from a tea shop | |||
Toll strike at Paliyekkara By Faris Arakkal MAKING a revolution is not as easy as making tea but Santhosh CU believes that his hot cup of tea can make this happen. That was why he offered his Mahadeva Tea Stall at Nenmanikara to the anti-toll agitators of Paliyekkara to prepare themselves for the strike. Samara Samithi even uses the tea stall's letterhead for writing news.The agitators often assembled at the teashop to chalk out their plans and he used to provide them 'free' tea and cigar though this is his only source of income. The tea stall has been the backbone of the anti-toll agitators since it started. The strike took off with the forming of Samayuktha Samara Samithi in the tea stall.But now, as the strike gained momentum and indefinite hunger strike started, anti-toll agitators have erected a strike tent near the toll plaza and have settled there. The four walls of his tea stall show the history of the strike. All newspaper cuttings of reports and pictures related to the toll collection and the anti-toll agitation are pasted on the four walls.For Santhosh, he has many reasons to do so. First of all, he is a native of Nenmanikara, the village almost isolated by the BOT project, and a victim of toll. Secondly, when Samara Samithi distributed pamphlets against BOT in the region once, he found that not many people were reading those pamphlets. He started pasting these reports and pictures on the walls so that every customer walking into his tea shop will get a taste of the agitation.His family too supports him in his noble service. His two kids Vishnath and Vivek are also in the strike front.Now as the strike tent is situated at Paliyekara, Santhosh has to reschedule the timings of the tea stall. And the flex saying 'No toll No BOT' still flies in the air in front of the tea stall.Courtesy: City Journal, Thrissur Nandakumar |
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