Just a few months ago, Kanaka Raju, who belongs to the Raj Gond tribal community in Telangana’s Komaram Bheem Asifabad district, was selected for the Padma Shri award — India’s fourth-highest civilian award, and saw much fanfare. Now, he feels ignored in his time of poor health and wonders if he will even be able to participate in the ceremony for the prestigious award when it is held in New Delhi. The artist had a hectic four months of travel since his name was announced in the list of Padma Shri awardees on Republic Day. However, he is now confined to a dingy two-room house in Marlavai village in Jainoor mandal.
His poor health is not helped with his diet being reduced to just a few bowls of jowar (sorghum) gruel a day, since he fell ill about 20 days ago. Doctors at the Jainoor Primary Health Centre (PHC) have diagnosed him with tuberculosis (TB) and have prescribed a strict regimen of medication. But the septuagenarian seems to be greatly troubled by the fact that none of the public representatives, officials or compatriots, who felicitated him not long ago, have called on him once his health started deteriorating.
Kanaka Raju is a master of the tribal folk dance Ghusadi, and was selected for the Padma Shri for his great contribution to the form. He has trained generations of Ghusadi dancers, known for their colourful attire and headdress, through his career. Ghusadi is part of the Dandari dance tradition of adivasi communities in four Telangana districts — Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal — which were once part of the undivided Adilabad district.
(A frail bed ridden Kanaka Raju)
Between the end of January and May, Raju's achievement was lauded by many— from Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to ministers in the state Cabinet, MLAs, district-level leaders, officials of the Tribal Welfare Department and countless others. "I cannot even remember the names of the plethora of places where I was taken to accept felicitations," Raju recalled, adding that the events began to drain his energy as well as his finances.
(Some of the souvenirs given to Kanaka Raju during the numerous felicitation programmes)
"The Rs 1 lakh which was given to my father by Telangana Tribal Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod got exhausted. Now we have no money to take him to a better hospital," rued the dance master's son Tukaram. "There is no word yet on the Rs 10,000 per month promised to be given to me in the shape of pension," Raju remembered, when his son mentioned the financial situation of the family. "Now I will not go anywhere, even if I am invited by MLAs or top district and tribal welfare department officials," he vowed, his resentment evident.
TNM spoke with a few medical officers in the district regarding the tribal artist’s health. They suggest that Raju be shifted to a health centre with better facilities, given his age and frail condition. They also suggest that since Raju has been diagnosed with TB, he should be moved from his two-room house to a place with better circulation and more space.