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A Gandhian in khaki

A true Gandhian in spirit, a social worker by vocation and a cartoonist by passion, K K Ramachandran, who happens to be a policeman by profession, is a misfit in khaki.

Better known as 'Rekha Vellathooval', Ramachandran has created for himself an image entirely alien to that of a lathi -wielding, trigger-happy and bad-mouthed cop.

A native of the distant hamlet of Vellathooval in the hill district of Idukki, Ramachandran, a head constable attached to the Kanjikuzhy police station in the same district, has always been committed to social justice.

He chose cartooning as a powerful means to advance this aim. He has organised as many as 20 exhibitions so far and has won accolades from far and wide -- an award by the Kerala Cartoon Academy, first place in a national cartoon competition organised by The Hindustan Times, apart from many more less-known prizes.

Ask Rekha whether the police -- one of the oft-villainised characters in cartoons -- has been a theme in his work. The answer is a hesitant yes.

He tried a hand at it but only to draw heavy flak from his colleagues. ''Nobody likes self-criticism,'' he says. ''Don't insult your livelihood,'' was the friendly advice from peers and superiors.

Rekha, a staunch supporter of Gandhian values, runs an organisation called Samskriti.

The best among his achievements is the 'swasraya gramam ' (self-reliant village) which is an attempt to ''check the flow of resources from villages to towns and fight against growing urbanisation which erodes the values and culture of the villages''.

Rekha describes his attempts at developing Venmani village, which originally was without electricity and even a bus service, but today is self-sufficient in terms of food and other necessities.

The thrust was on education, hydel projects and agriculture. A programme was also undertaken to create awareness about the novel concept among the villagers.

Now, the villagers are at ease with the idea and are giving their best for the implementation of the project, says Rekha.

A mini-hydel project, built solely by the villagers, caters to the electricity needs of 35 families. A fair price shop and many more programmes are in the pipeline.

Being averse to help from the government, Rekha and friends now look for bhikshadanam (collection of alms) as a means to mobilise working capital for the organisation.

Another novel venture is called ' perumazha camp' (rain camp) which was organised last year. It aims to make farmers view rains, often so heavy during the monsoons as to become catastrophic, as a blessing, provided it is harnessed in a wise way.

Snehadweep (island of love), a work in progress by the organisation at Ayiramekkar near Adimaly, presents an even more novel concept. The houses in the villages are named after nations and visualises a global village based on the principles of justice and morality.

With no boundaries, no wars and no competition, 'America' and 'Iraq', 'India' and 'Pakistan' live in harmony, respecting each other's privacy and interests.

But Rekha's path has not always been rosy. He has often been seen as a threat by some of colleagues. His 'reward' from them has been a one-and-a-half year suspension under some 'cooked up' charges.

After the suspension, Rekha chose to remain on leave but pressed by those around, those who cheered his good works, finally decided to report back for duty in the belief that ''I have many things to do even in khaki.''

UNI

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