Neeleswaram: On the fateful night of July 20, 1994, a torrential downpour lasting several hours changed Sreeja’s life. A large mango tree, uprooted by the relentless rain, crashed onto her house in Perumbala, killing her parents and two siblings. Sreeja survived because she was trapped under a cot and rescued after a lengthy and arduous effort. Left with no family, she became an orphan.
Sreeja’s plight moved the local people and the then District Collector, P. Mara Pandiyan. In an unprecedented act, Mara Pandiyan initiated the process of declaring Sreeja Kerala’s first adopted daughter, securing the order from the then Chief Minister, K. Karunakaran. The subsequent E. K. Nayanar government provided Sreeja with a plot of land, a house, and a job in the Revenue Department. The government also arranged Sreeja’s wedding to Vinod Kumar, a teacher.
More than two decades later, Sreeja’s daughter, Sreelakshmi, is getting married. The unique wedding ceremony will take place on Sunday at the Nakshatra auditorium in Aingoth. She is marrying Aswanth Raj, a Gulf-based engineer, the son of Puthiyaveettil Rajeevan and Sajitha of Edat in Payyanur. Sreeja, now a clerk at the Hosdurg taluk office, is busy with the wedding arrangements along with her husband.
“I am very happy with everything. But, Collector Mara Pandiyan, who supported me like a father when I lost my loved ones, is no longer here to witness the wedding,” said Sreeja.
Mara Pandiyan passed away in 2024. However, Sreeja invited his wife, who now resides in Mumbai. Although she will be unable to attend the wedding due to certain reasons, she has promised to meet the couple later.