Kanaka was a Class 9 student in an Adi Dravida Welfare School in Elamanoor in Madurai. She was a student of HRE from Class 6-9.  One day, as a student of Class 8, she was walking through the village with her grandfather.
“I noticed that several men removed their towels from their shoulders and tied it around their waist as a mark of respect for my grandfather, who was from a higher caste,†recalled Kanaka.
When he asked one of the men why they were doing so they told her that they were from a lower caste and that this was a custom in the village.
“I then talked to him about human rights and that all people are equal. There is no such difference such as caste. But he was not willing to listen to me,†recalled Kanaka.
She then discussed the matter with her grandfather, who told her that he never expected them to do that.