When Dr Sneha K A completed her MD from the University College of Medical Sciences last year, Karnataka celebrated her as the first doctor from the Koraga community — one of the state’s most marginalised tribal groups. Sneha, however, was reluctant to take the credit. “If someone has to be really appreciated, it has to be my parents,” she said. To understand why, you have to go back 60 years, as the seed to today’s success was sown by her grandmother, who never went to school.

Hailing from the Koraga community that was plunged in illiteracy, malnutrition, social inequality, and untouchability for centuries, Radha Bai, Dr Sneha’s grandmother, had the resolve to place her children in a better position.

Now in her 90s, Radha Bai faced stiff discrimination in her younger days while working as a maid. Yet she was determined to give her children a good education — a distant dream back then. Raising five children, including one boy and five girls, became even more challenging for Radha Bai amidst an abusive husband, Ranga, a teacher and an artist, who was a drunkard.

A tribe with a population of over 16,000, the Koraga community was considered among the original inhabitants of the coastal region, and was categorised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). However, the community faced social and economic exploitation for centuries.

“Though she did not attend formal schooling, she was reading weekly magazines like Sudha and Balamangala every week, and it was the seed for us to take up the reading habit during childhood,” recalls Jayashree, Dr Sneha’s mother.

Jayashree grew up in Sanikatta, located near Gokarna in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district. Although the small village held historic significance for producing traditional, unrefined brown salt for over 300 years, untouchability was practised vehemently.

A 3-km walk to Gokarna for food

“As a child, there were days when we slept hungry. We had accepted that we were untouchables, as there was less exposure. There were days when we used to walk to Gokarna in the night, 3 kilometres away, to get food from temples or festivities,” Jayashree recalls.

In those days, Jayashree says, she and her siblings got food at the mercy of her grandmother Durgi, who worked as ‘Pourakarmika’, cleaning the streets of Gokarna. “People recognised my grandmother. After serving food to the devotees, the leftovers were served to us, and we used to sit in a corner and eat. We were not allowed inside the temple to even collect it,” Jayashree, who was the first in the family to complete graduation, recalls.

Jayashree, who holds a BEd degree, says her mother was particular that all her children go to school and study. “I was not someone who was going out much because I did not want to be ill-treated due to my caste. Most of the time, I stayed to myself, read books, and magazines. Some people felt uncomfortable as I was able to finish my graduation and secure a government job as a primary school teacher,” she says.

However, Jayashree says that most of them ‘consoled’ themselves, spreading rumours that she ended up as an Anganawadi worker.

Jayashree’s father had studied till Class 8, while her brothers and sisters had managed to get jobs even before they stepped into undergraduate courses.

At 29, Jayashree had another battle when she fell in love with Ganesh V, whom she later married against opposition from both families. “Ganesh did not have a job, and he was not earning. What I really liked about him was that he always helped people and never cheated anyone. It was enough for me to marry him,” Jayashree, who is all set to retire in the next three months, says with a smile.

Sneha was the first child of Jayashree-Ganesh couple. “I always wished for a girl child. I was very particular, just like my mother, that I would provide her with a better education and make her financially independent. I did not want her to experience the inequality and untouchability. We lived in Ankola since her childhood, and got her enrolled in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (Udupi) from where she completed her Class 10. All I have done is invest in her education and nothing else,” Jayashree says.

Sneha then went on to join Alva’s PU College and came out with flying colours, securing 96 per cent marks in PUC examination — a feat which helped her obtain a medical seat. Alva’s education society has committed to providing free education for those who come from the Koraga community.

“This was the first time I was exposed to the caste dynamics. That was when I figured out that it was not just my marks, but it was my tribal caste which worked in my favour,” Sneha remarks.

Sneha says that she was not passionate about any career but chose MBBS as she got the seat. For someone who had until then completed all her education for free, MBBS admission put Sneha’s life at a crucial juncture as her family, for the first time, had to find ways to arrange money for her education.

Sneha studied at AJ Medical College in Mangaluru and served as the medical officer at the Community Health Centre in Kota, Kundapura. She managed to secure an MD seat at University College of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and came out with flying colours.

‘My parents had to be appreciated for my success’

While the Karnataka Government acknowledged Sneha’s achievement as the first doctor from the community, Sneha felt that it was not a big thing. “My parents provided me with everything for my education. I did not feel that I had achieved something, because many less-privileged people had completed their education despite being in harsher circumstances than I was in. If someone has to be really appreciated, it has to be my parents, and I had little role,” Dr Sneha says.

Her future goals? Sneha says that she wishes to be financially independent first and then start serving the society in whichever way she can.

Radha Bai, who lives in the house built by her daughter Jayashree, feels her life’s purpose accomplished.