Both – Dinaker Kenjur (32) and Sabita Gundmi (29) – have firsts to their credit in the most backward Koraga community, a Scheduled Tribe, and both entered the wedlock in a simple ceremony on the Ambedkar Jayanti here on Tuesday.
The main occupation of the community is basket weaving and collection of minor forest produce. The population of this community in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, and Kasaragod district of Kerala taken together is about 17,000.
While Ms. Gundmi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology in Mangalore University for last one-and-a-half years, Mr. Kenjur is guest lecturer in the Department of Commerce in the same university since 2009.
Both Ms. Gundmi and Mr. Kenjur overcame heavy odds to make a mark in their community. While Ms. Gundmi is the first person from the community to pass National Entrance Test (NET) for lectureship conducted by the University Grants Commission in 2010, Mr. Kenjur is the first in the community to have done M.Com.
Ms. Gundmi lost her father, when she was five while her mother died in an accident when she was studying SSLC. She had to discontinue her studies for two years after SSLC due to financial problems.
But she persevered and completed M.A. in Sociology standing second in Mangalore University in 2010. She cleared the NET in the first attempt.
She also cleared the State-level Eligibility Test (SLET) for lectureship conducted by the University of Mysore. She is pursuing Ph.D. for the last two years.
Mr. Kenjur too was born in a poor family. He suffered a polio attack when he was young and it affected his leg. He too had to struggle to complete his education. He has also completed third semester in MBA course from Karnataka State Open University. He is trying to clear the NET.
Both are childhood friends. They had both decided to marry nine years ago. Both have no superstition and decided to marry on Ambedkar Jayanti here.
“I told my well-wishers that I was born on a Tuesday. I joined work on a Tuesday. It would make no difference to me to marry on a Tuesday [which is considered inauspicious]. I have been deeply influenced by Dr. Ambedkar’s philosophy. Hence I and Dinaker decided to get married on Ambedkar Jayanti,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Ganesh Prabhu / Udupi – April 15th, 2015