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For the past six months, the staff and visitors of the Thirunavaya Grama Panchayat office in Malappuram have started their mornings with the aroma of freshly-made tea wafting from a stall named Unni ettan’s Idam. Behind the counter stands 65-year-old Unnikrishnan, chatting warmly with familiar faces who stop by for a cup of tea. Few who see him today would suspect the hardships he has endured or how close he once came to losing everything.

Once a heavy vehicle driver in Qatar and Dubai, Unnikrishnan used to lead a comfortable life. He owned a jewellery shop, had savings, and lived with his wife and four daughters in a house he built. But a bitter family dispute over property and an eventual court case stripped him of it all. By 20

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