Murugan bids tearful adieu to the man who took him to school

K. K. Sivan, the Kochi corporation councillor who passed away due to Covid-19, was responsible for enrolling Murugan and his brothers in a school 15 years ago.

K. K. Sivan, Kochi corporation councillor who succumbed to COVID on Saturday morning, had gifted to three homeless children who lived in Vyttila, their first experience of school. Nearly 15 years later, one of them, Murugan, arrived at the Ravipuram crematorium to pay his last respects to Sivan. Sivan secured admission for Murugan and his two siblings at the government school at Ponnurunni, recalls Leby Sajeendran, a journalist who, back then, reported the story of the three kids going to school for the first time. "The family had no shelter. Sivan brought them clean clothes and books, and took them to school. The children were, of course, very happy about going to school that day," she said. They did not stay in school for too long since it might have been difficult for them, but he put in that effort to get them there, she said.