KOZHIKODE: “It looks tough and I have never seen kalaripayattu before. I am excited but scared too,” Sruthi (name changed), an inmate of the Government Children’s Home (girls), said when asked what she felt about undergoing kalaripayattu training.
More than 100 inmates of the girls’ home were thrilled during the demonstration of kalaripayattu organized as a part of the inaugural function of Othir-am, the martial arts training programme of district administration for girls home inmates.
The programme, conducted in association with Hindustan Kalari Sangam, was inaugurated by social welfare minister Dr M.K. Muneer.
Radhika Gurukkal of Hindustan Kalari Sangam is the trainer. “Training would be easy for girls as they have flexible body compared to boys. We are looking forward to moulding really good kalaripayattu performers out of these girls,” she said.
“The programme will definitely help the girls to acquire qualities like concentration, self-defence and confidence,” opined Dr M.K. Muneer.
He added that the government will support such programmes and that funding will not be a problem.
The umbrella-making project for the inmates in association with ‘Our Responsibility to Children (ORC)’ — an initiative of the Social Justice Department — was also launched during the function. It is one of the many skill development programmes launched for the children to make them self-sufficient.
District Collector N Prasanth, Divisional Forest Officer Amandeep Kaur, Sub-Judge R.L Baiju, Hindustan Kalari Sangam Chief Medical Officer Dr Lal Krishna, Pain and Palliative Care Technical Advisor Dr Suresh Kumar among others were present.
