Snowlin wanted her father and mother to live long and get her educated. She promised in the write-up that soon after her education she would fetch a job and look after her parents.
As usual in the busy modern age, where a past unjustified, gruesome act disappears with the return of ‘normalcy’, the story of J.Snowlin, the 17-year-old girl, who was gunned down in the anti-Sterlite protest, has almost been forgotten. But, with a small publication of her journal with the title Snowlin Naatkuripukal, her views on the world, her affection for her parents, and many more were revealed.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court, on Thursday, refused Vedanta permission to reopen its Sterlite copper smelting plant at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Though the apex court’s observation has restored the faith of the people in the judiciary, it is painful to think that as many as 15 people laid down their lives for the closure of the Sterlite unit after the police opened fire on the protestors’ demonstration against it, and J.Snowlin, a 17-year-old girl, was one among them.
Su.Venkatesan, a famed writer, who bagged the Sahitya Akademi award for his book Kaaval Kottam in 2010, and a Member of Parliament, writes in his foreword to Snowlin’s posthumous booklet thus:
“‘Snowlin’as her name meant, the gift of God, was gunned down by police to protect the government’s interests on Anil Agarwal, the NRI billionaire and chairman of Vedanta Resources, which ran the copper smelter at Thooothukudi. The police killed the 17-year-old in a gruesome way by shooting her in the head “
On Snowlin Naatkuripukal, published by Bharathi Puthakalayam, Venkatesan says:
“The book, which has been published on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artistes Association, contains a miscellany of Snowlin’s jottings in her diary, which reveal her simple dreams in life. The girl has drawn flowers beside each of her jottings. Her writings reveal that she was an ordinary girl like anyone with dreams of education, a secure job, and love for her parents. The book stands testimony to prove that similar persons who were gunned down in the anti-Sterlite protest, were just commoners with interests in Thoothukudi’s ecosystem and not subversives” adds Venkatesan.
One of her writings in the diary reveals her love for her mother, as she expresses her wish to die just by looking at her countenance.
I still want to open my eyes from sleep at Amma. Minutes before to bed at night, I gaze at her for a little time Because, in case, I meet my doom in sleep My last sight must be my mother.
Nevertheless, Snowlin’s wish did not get fulfilled, as she became the gunfire victim on May 22, 2018 at the anti-Sterlite rally. The district collector Sandeep Nanduri gave away a solatium of Rs.20 lakh to Snowlin’s father.
Another piece of writing found in her diary throws light on her love for her father. The man, who too was a victim of liquor at the state-run TASMAC outlets, had received his daughter’s reprimanding many a time. Snowlin’s childlike write-up moves a reader to tears, as she begs her father not to drink. In the realistic, vernacular of Thooothukudi, the girl’s Tamil write-up has one or two English phrases here and there.
She greets her dad ‘Hai Pa, I am fine. How are you?’ Then, she continues writing telling her father that she likes him more than her mother, but hates only his act of drinking. Her affection for him also makes her apologize to him, as she and her mother had reprimanded him for drinking. However, the girl wished her dad not to spoil his health by consuming liquor. She wants her father and mother to live long and get her educated. She promises in the write-up that soon after her education she will fetch a job and look after her parents.