A victim of Kerala’s political violence,ragpicker boy now a govt clerk

The bomb that left him injured was a fallout of the long history of brutal violence between the CPM and BJP in Kannur in north Kerala. Amavasi had been rummaging through garbage to find something “valuable” when he chanced upon the container. The boy thought it was worth enough to provide his mother and him food for a few days and was taking the box to a shop when the bomb inside went off,blowing away his left hand and leaving him blind in his right eye.

The plight of Amavasi had attracted public attention,with the government providing him a compensation of Rs 1 lakh. Subsequently,an orphanage near Thiruvananthapuram had adopted Amavasi. It was Marxist leader P Govinda Pillai who gave him the name Poornachandran,which means full moon,instead of his earlier name signifying ‘a dark night’.

His musical talent was soon noticed at the orphanage. Later music director Perumbavoor G Ravindranath volunteered to give Poornachandran training in Carnatic music for three years.

After completing higher secondary in 2008. Poornachandran enrolled for BA Music at the Government Music College in Thiruvananthapuram,where he is now preparing for his final year exams.

Happy with the government job,Poornachandran hopes to study further. “After the Chief Minister’s promise,we had made a formal request for job. But I want to continue my studies for a better job,” he says.