Visakhapatnam: Making a difference in tribal lives

Visakhapatnam: She is probably the only woman in Telugu states, or in the country, to script 19 languages for tribals. Her dedication and commitment to better the lives of tribal communities made several unlettered to worship her as 'chaduvula thalli' (Goddess of Education).

Meet Professor of English at the Andhra University Sathupati Prasanna Sree, who was awarded with Nari Shakti Purasakar in 2020-2021, the highest civilian honour for women presented by the Indian government.

A day ahead of the International Women's Day, Prasanna Sree shares what it means to her in bringing a change in the lives of the tribals who had earlier distanced themselves from education for apparent reasons.

She says that she has been documenting oral literature for 19 tribes in the tribal belt. "In order to make education easier for the tribals, I have devised alphabets based on the sounds of the tribal language and customised them to make education interesting for the tribal communities," she explains.

So far, the Professor has come up with assorted alphabets tailormade for tribes such as Gadaba, Gondu, Bagatha, Jathapu, Konda Dora, Rana, Sugali, Kupia, Mali, Porja, Savara, Kurru, Yerukula, Mukha Dora, Koya, Kolam, Lingua Kotiya and Dhruva. A majority of these scripts contain letters from 30 to 50.

Based in Visakhapatnam, Prasanna Sree initially tried to interact with tribals of Araku to understand their lifestyle. Back then, she was not well-received by them. However, when the tribals came to know that the Professor also belonged to one of their communities, they started getting close to her.

Talking about her journey of tribal education, Prasanna Sree recalls that the turning point came into her life during her maiden visit to a tribal festival. "Back then, I felt education was more important for the tribals as they were exploited by the traders. Having no access to basic infrastructure, lack of education only added to their woes. I wanted to change this trend and contribute as much as I could in making a difference in their lives," Prasanna Sree elaborates.

In 2020-21, Prasanna Sree received Nari Shakti Purasakar from the then President of India Ram Nath Kovind. Besides gaining a place in the Limca Book of Records and India Book of Records, the Professor bagged a number of state and national awards for achieving the biggest feat in designing alphabets in 19 languages tailormade for the tribal communties.