The recent incident where Daya Bai faced verbal abuse on a KSRTC bus, leading to the suspension of two KSRTC employees has been the talk of the town for some time. Apart from the obvious discussions about the incident itself, it also put a spotlight on Daya Bai, introducing her to many of the youngsters in Kerala.
George Pullatt, fourth of the 13 younger siblings of Mercy Mathew, aka. Daya Bai, says the controversy, though painful, has been a blessing in disguise.
“Daya Bai has received handful of awards, news report after report have been written on her, she has done so much for the people, yet it was a foul incident like this that made her a known face in her own homeland. Had Jesus Christ died a normal death at the age of 90 instead of being crucified or had Gandhiji not been shot dead, would we have remembered them and their contributions so fondly today? Abuse is more powerful than awards this way,” says George.
George says he is the closest among the siblings to Daya Bai and they share a special bond. He says, “I was in Class III when she decided to join the convent and she visited our school to distribute toffees to all the students before leaving because no one from our place had gone that far to work in a convent before. That’s my earliest memory of her. Even when she decided to leave behind the convent and instead work as a social worker, there were no big issues at home. But in our place, women who left the convent and were ousted from the convent are called Madamchadi, in a derogative sense, and are considered a burden on their family. This fear as well as her desire to work in Madhya Pradesh villages forced her to not return. Her name Mercy got translated to Daya and Bai was added as sign of respect. Because of this name, many never realised that she is a Keralite until now,” he adds.
Referring to the incident, he adds, “Though I wasn’t a witness, I can guess what happened. She isn’t very familiar with places in Kerala; she hasn’t lived here much. The organisers must have told her, ‘Get down at Garage stop after the Bypass stop’ and she would have asked the conductor to inform her when the Bypass stop comes. It’s possible the conductor mistook her as wanting to get down at Bypass and got angry when she didn’t. Daya Bai is not one to keep quiet in an argument either and it might have led to a quarrel.”
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