Tribal teacher seeks to inspire youth with Virat Kohli’s story

ADILABAD: Breaking through regional and lingual barriers, an Adivasi teacher-cum-writer in Adilabad is drawing inspiration from the life story of Indian batsman Virat Kohli to pen a motivational book in the Gondi language for his students and Adivasi youth.

Kailash Thodasam, of Waghapur village in Mavala mandal, said that he chose the story of Virat Kohli as he faced a lot of hardships to emerge as the top batsman in the world, while also remaining a good human in and outside the field.

He has decided to title the book 'Virat Kohli: Youthun Chethokeeval Player’, which will be published in Telugu script of Gondi language.

Thodasam said that cricket encompasses all barriers in India and that Kohli’s story would be relatable to all, as even at the age of 34 years, he is as formidable as ever and well deserving of the nicknames ‘King Kohli’, ‘Mr Consistency’, ‘Mr Aggression’ and ‘Record Breaker’.

Thodasam emphasised the influence of cricket on youth and hoped that his story would help draw the Adivasi youth from liquor addiction and other vices.

The teacher wants his students to fix a goal and strive hard to achieve them, irrespective of the challenges they might face on their journey.

The idea behind penning it in Telugu script is to ensure the text is easy to read for the Adivasi youth, he said.

Besides the book on Kohli, Thodasam has already published ‘Kandirang Vesuding’, a set of children’s stories, in 2019 and is in the process of recording the history of Adivasis. He has also penned songs on their God ‘Persapen’, to awaken the ‘Koya’ youth, and is bringing out books on Adivasi ‘Saga’ (clan) and ‘Pen’ (Gods).

He said he collected several historical books and works on Adivasis by anthropologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf and appealed for financial help to help him publish his works.