Meet the young changemakers transforming North Chennai through sports, education and environmental action

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P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India talks at the ‘Our street Our stories’ photo exhibition hosted by Vyasai Thozhargal | Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALAINGAM

What began as an informal gathering of a group of friends who played cricket together, has now grown into a voluntary movement with purpose in Vyasarpadi. N Sakthivel, a documentary photographer who is the coordinator of Vyasai Thozhargal, recalls how all of them would talk about the caste-based discrimination they faced in school when they met. “I did my higher secondary in a school in Besant Nagar,” says Sakthivel: “Some students there would not call me by my name and would address me as ‘Vyasarpadi’ instead.”

When he realised they were mocking him since he was from a disadvantaged locality, he channelled his anger towards sports. “I won several trophies for my school. Once, they called my name in the assembly to congratulate me. The name ‘Sakthivel’ rang through the campus,” he says. It is a moment he will never forget. “It made me understand how important sports and education were for one’s self-worth,” he says, adding that these fields are the primary focus of Vyasai Thozhargal.

At Dr Ambedkar Pagutharivu Padasalai, Vyasarpadi | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B

The movement was started by Sarath Kumar, an advocate, along with president, Prem Kumar, who is also an advocate; and R Vijayalakshmi, a teacher, another core member.

The Vyasai Thozhargal team participate in rescue operations during the floods in Chennai | Photo Credit: N Sakthivel

Vijayalakshmi teaches at the Dr Ambedkar Pagutharivu Padasalai, their free tuition centre at JJR Nagar in the evenings, where children indulge in the occasional game of football. Here, one of the more important lessons besides the one in textbooks, is to use the tools that we as citizens have, to ask important questions. The RTI act is one such example.

Over the years, Vyasai Thozhargal has been amplifying the voices of people from North Chennai. Sakthivel, for instance, documented the damage the floods did to the locality, even as mainstream media woke up to it late. Their army of volunteers participate in relief work during natural calamities, ensuring food and water reaches those affected. During the pandemic, they came up with ‘auto-rickshaw ambulances’, a unique system to ferry the sick to hospitals. “We welded fittings in autos making them suitable to fit oxygen cylinders, which were in demand during the time,” he says.

Sakthivel says they named their tuition centre after Ambedkar because of their love for the leader. And also because pagutharivu or rational thinking is crucial for a casteless society.

For 40 years now, Young Challenge Sports Club and Social Welfare Association (YCSC), has been using sports as a means to instil confidence and a sense of purpose in children in Thiruvottriyur. The club, started by K Chinnasamy from the neighbourhood when he was in his early 20s, was called Lenin Sports Club in its initial days.