December is the follow-up month at TNM where we go back to headlines of the past for a status update. In this series, we strive to bring focus back to promises made by governments, revisit official investigations that should have been completed by now and exhume issues of public interest that lost steam over time.
In four years, Ente Koodu, perched on top of the Kerala Road Transport Corporation's curvy white building in Thiruvananthapuram, has found many takers. On a Monday evening, Sumangali, reaching the city for a trip to the Vettukad church, talks to two staff members familiar to her through previous visits. Placed across the road from the central railway station and atop the Thampanoor stand where all long-distance buses stop, Koodu – opened by the Women and Child Development (WCD) department as a safe space for women to spend a night – has become a popular haunt for women commuting between districts at odd hours. But it has quite a few restrictions including the number of times a person can come in a month, and the WCD has opened another shelter for women who need short stays – a one-day home right next door.
In Malayalam, koodu means ‘nest’, and ente koodu translates to ‘my nest’. For Sumangali, Koodu is a familiar place. “This is the first time that I brought my sister along. She wanted to see what it is like,” Sumangali says, pointing to another woman sitting on a bed. It is a dormitory with bunk beds spread across a large hall.
Remya, a daily wage employee at Koodu, says that about 30 women visit the centre on average every night. “They just need to show one of their identity cards and give a couple of phone numbers to get a bed. The centre is open between 6.30 in the evening and 7.30 the next morning,” Remya says.
The Koodu scheme started in 2015, during the time of the previous UDF government in Kozhikode, as a night shelter for destitute women. In 2018, when the LDF government opened the centre in Thiruvananthapuram, the idea was extended to include all women who might be stranded without a place to go to at odd hours. Two months ago, the third centre of Koodu was opened at Kakkanad in Ernakulam district. TNM found that while Koodu has mostly proven helpful to many women who need to travel alone, there are some aspects that need attention.
#EnteKoodu, the free shelter for women who need a safe space for a night, tucked into a corridor overlooking the Central Railway station. On the 8th floor of the #ksrtc bus stand in Thampanoor, #Trivandrum pic.twitter.com/C0R2lTuZlX
— Cris (@cristweets) November 25, 2022
In the Koodu centre at Thiruvananthapuram, there are 50 beds in the dorm, but only two bathrooms. Sometimes women come with children and on a busy day, there could be more than 50 people. There are two members of the staff who stay there every night to look after the needs of the occupants. Sharanya, posted as a multitasking staff, says that the centre is free for everyone who comes before 4 in the morning. For those who come after 4 am, the charge is Rs 100. One person can only visit the centre for a maximum of three days a month. In exceptional cases, they are allowed two days more, for a charge.
“We allow boys up to the age of 12. Of course, children are not allowed in on their own, there has to be an accompanying adult,” Sharanya says.
On the door outside are the phone numbers of the staff and police officials of the Thampanoor station. The centre runs in close association with the police. “If anything at all goes wrong, we ring the officers at Thampanoor and they come immediately. Even otherwise they sometimes drop by, especially if there are any missing cases (to see if the missing persons are here),” Sharanya adds.
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Sharanya and Remya at Ente Koodu
Three years ago, TNM reported the experience of a few young women who had sought accommodation at Koodu at 1 am the night but were turned away. The reason was that they had come there after a film show at night. The film was at a movie hall in the same building, a few floors below. Even now, women who reach there late in the night after a DJ party or a film are not encouraged to stay. “Though the centre is meant for every woman who might be stranded alone and needs a place to stay, it gives preference to those who are from financially poor backgrounds and do not have many other options. If there are enough beds, of course, everyone is welcome, regardless of where they come from. But on the nights we are short of beds, we are cautious about who we give the bed away to, in case someone who is more desperate doesn’t get the space,” Sharanya says.
Those who come after 10 at night have to state the reason for their visit. Most of the time, it would be students who reach on a late-night train and have an exam the next morning, or else it could be those who come for hospital checkups. Once they register their names and take a bed, they are not expected to go out. “This is because we can’t take responsibility for their possessions. If they are willing to carry it as they go out, it is alright,” Sharanya says. The centre also offers a plate of chapati and vegetable kurma for free for the first five women who ask for it.
As we talk, there are multiple mentions of the one-day home next door, which opened in 2020. Kavitha, the staff in charge for the night, shows a similarly large hall, but with single beds spread around it, in place of a dorm, and a few cubicles if visitors prefer a private space. There are 29 beds here and two bathrooms, plus an air conditioner. It is also open 24 hours, unlike Koodu, which is just for the night. Only, this one is not free. It comes at a price of Rs 150 a day for the beds in the hall and Rs 250 for the cubicles.
A cubicle at the one-day home
“The rate increases for every consecutive day they want to stay. For the first 24 hours, it is the base charge, for the next day it will be Rs 50 more, so Rs 200 for the hall bed and Rs 300 for the cubicle. A third day would mean another 50 Rs more,” Kavitha says. Like in Koodu, a person can stay only for a maximum of three days in a month, whether at a stretch or with gaps.
Perhaps the only complaint that Prabhha Balachandran, a senior citizen who came to stay for the night on Monday, 21 November has about the one-day home is that it is limited to a few days. “I have come here a few times now and think really great of this place. I lived in Thiruvananthapuram earlier, but am now settled in Ernakulam with my [grownup] children. I need to visit the capital to see my grandson who is a student at the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH). Every time, I stay here, and it has always been great. The staff here is also excellent. But it would be great if the stay can be extended to five or six days a month,” Prabha says.
In the beds next to hers are two women who have come from Munnar to visit their children who go to college in Thiruvananthapuram, and another woman who makes the occasional pilgrimage to Vettukad church. All three of them hail the one-day home, calling it a very convenient arrangement for women who come alone to the city, located right next to the central railway station and bus station.
“It is great that it is affordable,” says Jancy, who works in a tea estate in Munnar and speaks Tamil. It is her friend who has accompanied her on this trip who first came to know of the one-day home. “I came to know from the hostel warden of my child, who is a college student in the city,” she says.
Martha Wilfred, the occupant on the far bed, who came for her church visit says that no other district has such a convenient setup, not even Kozhikode where she works as a home nurse and where another centre of Koodu is open. “That is far from the city, you have to take a vehicle and travel several kilometres from the bus or rail stations. That is not so safe in the dead of the night. But this location here in Thiruvananthapuram is perfect.”
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Kavitha at the One Day Home
Like in Koodu, the women are expected to be in by 6.30 pm. Those who need to go out after that must enter in a diary the time they will return. They can leave their luggage and go as the centre has a locker facility. But every woman who registers is asked the purpose of their visit and where they need to go. “This is in case any issues occur later and we need to have information about the women. It is also for the safety of others. If something goes wrong, we call either the pink police or the officials at Thampanoor station,” Kavitha says.
Prabha remembers how once there was a woman who appeared to have mental health issues and kept talking aloud to herself. Kavitha took charge of the situation and calmed the woman down, Prabha recalls appreciatively.
Sharanya, from Koodu, says that they don’t welcome women who have shown problematic behaviour before. “Once, a woman who seemed unstable came to the one day home, and we contacted the police. The next time officials of another police station brought her in and we said no. We always ask our department officers in any such case,” she says.
It would seem the centre is not welcoming of women with mental health issues or problems at home, although this could be in consideration of other shelter seekers. A step forward would be to direct these women to proper channels that could help them deal with the issues.