Karthyayani Amma ( – 10 October 2023) was an Indian woman who passed a literacy examination with top marks at the age of 96. She received the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...

award, the highest civilian award for a woman, by the government of India.

Early life

Karthyayani Amma was born . She was from

Cheppad Cheppad is a scenic village near Haripad in Alappuzha district in Kerala State, India. It is about halfway between Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram on the National Highway 47 (now NH 66). Etymology Cheppad was known as "Cheppukadu" in ancient tim ...

Haripad Haripad is a municipality in ''Odanad, Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha District, Kerala, India located between Alappuzha and Kollam on the NH 66, National Highway 66. Haripad is bordered on the east by Pallippad, Veeyapuram and Karuvatta ...

in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

in India. As a child she had to work and therefore stopped attending school. She married and had six children, working as a street sweeper and maid. She was a vegetarian who rose at 04:00 every morning.

Fame

By 2018, Karthyayani Amma was living at the Laksham Veedu Colony, a social housing facility for elderly people. She was inspired to take a learning course by her daughter, who had passed an examination at the age of sixty. In August 2018, she took an examination alongside 40,362 other people, as part of the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority's Aksharalaksham ("Million Letter") programme. She was the oldest person to take the test in her district. She had been given lessons in reading and writing by her great-grandchildren, who were nine and twelve years old. Tested on reading, writing and mathematics, Karthyayani Amma scored 98 out of a possible 100 marks, giving her the top grade. She commented afterwards "I learned so much for no reason. The tests were way too easy for me". After her success in the examination, Karthyayani Amma became a national celebrity: film star

Manju Warrier Manju Warrier (; born 10 September 1978/1979) is an Indian actress, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, a Kerala State Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards South. Warrier made her actin ...

met her during

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

;

C. Raveendranath Prof. Cheranalloor Raveendranath is an Indian politician and is the formeMinister for Educationof the Government of Kerala in the First Vijayan ministry, first Pinarayi Vijayan Ministry. He is a Communist Party of India (Marxist) politician fro ...

(the Keralan education minister) gave her a laptop;

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian politician who has served as the List of chief ministers of Kerala, Chief Minister of Kerala since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), politburo ...

, chief minister of Kerala, gave her a certificate of merit. She told ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

'' that her ambition was to pass the next level examination at the age of 100. Karthyayani Amma became a

Commonwealth of Learning The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation of The Commonwealth headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Working collaboratively with governmental and non-governmental organizations and other institutions ...

Goodwill Ambassador in 2019. In March 2020, she was honoured with the

2019 award, presented by

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

, the president of India. Amma had never flown before but she was reassured by a former awardee M.S. Sunil days before she flew to the Presidential Palace in Delhi. Another recipient of the award was fellow Keralan Bhageerathi Amma, who at 105 is the oldest person to have passed an Aksharalaksham examination. Inspired by her story,

Vikas Khanna Vikas Khanna (born 1971) is an Indian-American Michelin star celebrity chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, and filmmaker. He is one of the judges of ''MasterChef India'' since its beginning. Early life and education Khanna was born in Amrits ...

made a documentary called '' Barefoot Empress'', which chronicled her journey and spirit. Amma died in

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

on 10 October 2023, at the age of 101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amma, Karthyayani 1920s births Year of birth uncertain 2023 deaths Women from Kerala Nari Shakti Puraskar winners Maids 20th-century Indian women 21st-century Indian women Indian women centenarians