Kerala: As people turn to hot water for a bath because cold water in rainy season may not go well, here in Kerala’s Alapuzha, a 14-year-old boy takes a plunge into the local river wearing his uniform.
Well, it is not for fun, but his action is driven with anger and urge for change. He swims a distance of three kms to reach his school in Poothota, while all his counterparts wait for a boat to reach school.

Over the last 25 years people of this region have been demanding for a bridge but the same could not be materialised and hence to give fillip to the movement, Arjun Santhosh, all of 14 has resorted to protesting in his own way.

Perumbalam, island village where Arjun lives has over 10,000 people, all of whom bank on boats for transportation.

Arjun, after having been punished at school several times for reaching late, decided to stop waiting for the boat and create his own path and soon the student of 9th standard started swimming to school.

Well, all that the village needs is a 700 mts bridge to ease out life, but that has been denied over the last 25 years. Not even persistent deaths after toppling off the boat had managed to grab the attention of the local leaders. This apart, 50 have died as timely medical intervention was denied.

It is said that Arjun’s way of retaliating had caught the attention of the authorities, but it yielded no results.

“He is a minor and it is dangerous to swim in this season. If something tragic happens we would be held responsible for not stopping him. Hence, we decided to send him a notice,” said R Girija, the collector of Alappuzha.

Though Arjun has stopped swimming as of now, if the authorities do not initiate action to build the bridge, Arjun will be back to doing what he has already done!