Hyderabad: ''Why should a girl study? If she continues her studies she will be expelled from the caste. She should be confined in a special hut during the menstrual period”. These were the taunts Madavi Kannibai had to hear form the village elders. Madavi didn't care about the comments as her her gaze went beyond that hut towards the Himalayas as years down the line, the young woman from Kumuram Bheem area of Telangana's Asifabad district is the Telangana adventure tourism brand ambassador today.
Madavi is one among a few woman hailing from the Kolam tribe who brave the odds and emerge as a role model for other women of the community with sheer dedication. In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, Madavi said that education was the key for women to emerge as leaders. Recalling an incident from her childhood days, Madavi said, “I was thirteen years old then. My father and mother seemed to be suffering from something and I asked what is the matter. They said that someone had grabbed the agricultural land we were cultivating”.
She said that the village elders instead of helping her family, also supported the grabber. “Then I went to Utnuru where the ITDA PO office is located, and wrote an application saying that our land was grabbed by someone. Seeing my courage at that age, the local PO Sounrab Gaur sent RDO, Tehsildar, and revenue staff to our village and returned our land to us. That's when I knew the value of education'', Madavi recalled.
Madavi said that she turned to her favorite sports even though her relatives and village elders said it was “not right for her as a girl”. She soon had to face another tragedy as she lost her father while she was studying for her Intermediate. In 2014, Madavi applied at the Jawaharlal Nehru Youth Center in Adilabad for free training in adventure sports like parachutes.
After taking admission there, Madavi excelled in state-level competitions. Buoyed by her victory, she took training in water rappelling and mountain climbing under the Telangana Adventure Club. In 2019, she scaled the Himalayas and in 2022, she led the Pangarchula mountain climbing team. Madavi created a record by becoming the first Adivasi woman to achieve this feat.
She also won the first prize in the world-level water rappelling competition held in Visakhapatnam. Last year, she acted as the captain in the world-class water rappelling competition held at Gayatri Falls in Adilabad. In recognition of her rare achivements, Telangana Adventure Tourism has made her a brand ambassador for adventure tourism.
While acknowledging the Telangana government's efforts, Madavi said that the government, ITDA, and police departments provide the necessary money for her trips. “My dream is to climb Everest. Our Adivasi girls should also come forward like me. I am training them in these sports,'' she said. With the training provided by her in adventure sports, the tribal youth are getting employment by setting up adventure clubs locally.
In recognition of her adventures, she received the Mountain Lovers Award on the occasion of International Mountaineering Day. Under the auspices of the Adventures Club in Delhi, Madavi will soon receive the 'Best Adventure' award from the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
