TRIVANDRUM: Adorned in a lungi-blouse and hands clutched on a sickle, Santhi stepped into the big stage of theatre years back. When Thoopil Bhasi's magnum opus “ ningal enne communistakki” got refashioned and performed again, it was Santhi who played the female protagonist Mala in the epic drama. Rolling back the years, tears well up in Santhi's eyes. Sasthamangalam native KPAC Shanthi who once rose to critical acclaim is now living a life of penury, happy on days when she can afford two meals.

She debuted with the drama “Abhimanyu” aged 10. Years later got the call of her life and got into KPAC at the age of 19, the reputed theatre that has given birth to legends. Life was enthralling and colorful for Shanthi who started dreaming big when her life reached an impasse all of a sudden.

Her father was cleaning her house from the top floor when he slipped and fell shockingly from the top. Shanthi stopped theatre and became a full-time caretaker for her bedridden father. The bills that surmounted for the treatment were too much to ask, such that Santhi’s last resort was to sell her house. While living a life of debt, she married electrician Sathish. In high hopes for a better life, she started her journey with her husband, but here also, darkness loomed in her life. In just two years, Sathish encountered three accidents that nearly made him bedridden. Last year Santhi also met with an accident that completed the quagmire.

Nowadays the former famed name in theatre can’t even afford daily medicines for treatment. The debt meanwhile has touched an inexplicable 30 lakhs in the bank. Actress and altruist Seema G Nair made a helping hand. Santhi has two children who are pre-primary students.