On 27th May 2011 the students of Tamilnadu were rushing the internet café to browse the web to know their 10th graded result. But Mari who has also written the examination was busy in collecting the charcoal along with his mother Ms. Shanmugam, never bother about result. During that time his middle sister Banu priya informed Mari that somebody has come to see him. The friends who came lifted Mari jubilantly. They shouted “you got 490 and you are the district first”. Mari’s mother Shanmugam, filled with tears in her eyes, did not understand anything but felt that her son achieved some thing great.
Mari alias Mariselvam belongs to Mookaiyur village comes under Kadaladi taluk of Ramanathapuram district. Mookaiyur village is not familiar to most of the people in the district but got its name and fame because of Mariselvam. The next day the press flooded Mariselvam’s hut got surprised and shocked to know his background.
In 2005, People’s Action for Development, a social organization based at Vembar identified Mariselvam for its sponsorship program, which is supported by Christian Children Fund of Canada. Mari was born and brought up in Mookaiyur, who studied up to VIII grade St Jacob middle school. When he completed VIII grade Mari realized his family situation and asked his mother that he would like to join his father in fishing. But mother did not allow him. In the mean time, father Mr. Muniyasami told him” I will look after the family”. Though your sister Parvathi studied well but could not get opportunity to continue her study. Therefore “You should study well”. Thereafter, He proceeded to Velayuthapuram which comes under Kalimangundu panchayat of Thirupalani block of Ramanathapuram district.
Mari’s father was a fishing coolie who accompany in other’s boat. Other wise he was fishing with small net near the shore. He dreamt of Mari at least he should study well in his family. There are 5 girls and 2 boys in Muniyasami’s family. He got married 4 daughters and a son. Mariselvam and Banupria are yet to be settled. To own a vallam (small boat with engine) and help Mari to study were a dream of Muniyasami, for which he worked hard in day and night. In this circumstance a major blow hit Muniyasami in the form of brain tumor, which shook the family for many years.
In the mean time, Mari has been studying in St Joseph Higher secondary school, Muthupettai(Thirupilani block) of Ramanathapuram district. In his holidays Mari helped his mother’s work. His eldest sister Ms. Murugeshwari with he stayed and studied looked after him like her own son. Ms. Murugeshwari has 3 daughters and a son. She and her husband Mr. Muniyasamy took care of Mariselvam’s family. They also supported Mari’s father in getting married of his 3 sisters and a brother. Two months before the exam Mariselvam’s father died of brain tumor.
There after, the family’s burden fell on the shoulder of Mari’s mother, who began to stay in Murugeshwari’s house and went for hard labor like fire wood cutting, charcoal making and other coolie (daily wage) work. In the month of March, exam came. He wrote two examinations. His sister Murugeshwari enquired about his examination. He said “today I wrote English second paper and I wrote well”. He saw sister’s fatigue face and asked her “what happened?” she told “I have heart burn, if I sleep a while, I will be alright”.
The poor Mari did not know that he was going to loose caring sister in few hours. His sister died of sudden heart attack. The next day he got mathematics examination. All his relatives consoled him. His brother-in-law and relatives convinced him to write the examination. They said that we would do the last rights of the sister after your examination. With heavy heart he completed his school final examination, which was deciding factor for his future.
After the completion exam he continued to work with mother. All his villagers, teachers and friends knew well his situation. The result gave a pleasant shock to all. He scored 490 out of 500 and his marks are:
Subjects | <>Marks | <>
Tamil | <>95 | <>
English | <>98 | <>
Mathematics | <>100 | <>
Science | <>99 | <>
Social studies | <>98 | <>
In the similar circumstance many of us even could not reach minimum level. Despite his shocks and hardships he reached the peak. Mariselvam’s niece (Murugeshwari’s daughter) also wrote the same examination and scored 423 out of 500.
The sufferings and sorrows still haunt Mariselvam. He has been suffering from incurable head ache for the last three years. The local doctors told him that was no problem. But a doctor from Coimbatore
