The New Indian Express 22.10.2010
Youngest candidate in the Kochi Corporation
KOCHI: It is a modest house in the upmarket Kunjan Bawa Road. N S Soumya, clad in a white cotton sari, waits patiently at the door. At 24, she is the youngest candidate in the Kochi Corporation municipal elections.Soumya is the UDF representative for the Scheduled Caste seat allotted to Ponnurunni.
Soumya has some experience in politics. She is the president of the Kerala Students Union unit at the RLV College in Tripunithura where she is doing her postgraduation in painting. M A Sebastian, block Congress Committee secretary, says that Soumya, on her own initiative, had set up the KSU unit in the college four years ago. “She is a young and capable girl,” he says. “We had no qualms in fielding her.” He added that the opposing candidate, Bindu Sivadasan of the LDF who is in her 30s now, had become the president of the Thiruvankulam panchayat at the age of 21. Nevertheless, when Soumya went out for campaigning, she was inevitably questioned about her youth. “But the people’s attitude changed when I told them I was doing my postgraduation,” she says. “Nobody comes to a job fully trained. I will learn as I go along.” Of course, like in all divisions, there is a drawbacks galore.
Bad roads are a major issue the residents complain of. Those who travel on the Subhash Chandra Bose Road, as I did, will testify that the roads are in horrible shape.
“Two riders got injured when in order to avoid a speeding Kottayambound private bus, they fell into a large pothole,” says Soumya. The other problems include potable water shortage, mosquito menace, and waterlogging.
Soumya remembers going into a house in the interior and talking to a family in knee-deep water inside the house.
“They were CPM supporters,” she says. “I found this ironical. The area has been an LDF stronghold for the past 30 years and nothing has been done to alleviate the sufferings of the people.” The previous councillor was none other than the Deputy Mayor Mani Shankar.
Soumya was deeply affected when she met old people living alone without any pension, struggling to get money to pay for medicines and vegetables.
“The cost of living has gone up,” she says. “Several people were turned away by the officials of the Cochin Corporation when they approached them for help. I felt bad about it. Whether I win or lose, I will help them.” The Ponnurunni division is a study in contrasts. Following my conversation with Soumya, when I step out on to the road, I hear music blaring from the nearby ‘Nirmal Gardens’ bungalow.
It is the evergreen Boney M hit, ‘By the rivers of Babylon’.
