Amutha KannanFreelance journalist and writerWrites on women and children, disability, social welfare, higher education, and Defence. Also had a four-year stint in the corporate communication domain.Has a degree in Sociology from Stella Maris College, Chennai, post-graduate degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from University of Madras, Chennai, and LLB degree from B.V. Bellad Law College, Belgaum, Karnataka.Her investigative reporting has exposed a few top educationists for irregularities inrecruitments in universities, and also appointments of Vice-Chancellors andRegistrars.She is the recipient of the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity 2011-2012 (Southern Region), under the Best Human Interest Story (Print Media – English) category. The award is instituted by the United Nations Population Fund for gender sensitive reportage. The story ‘Ensuring Dignified Burial for the Destitute’ dated March 9, 2011, appeared in the Coimbatore edition of The Hindu.She has taken a sabbatical, after eight years in The Hindu, to be with her husband who is an officer with the Indian Air Force and stationed in Assam. She continues to freelance.TOPIC: Defence: Living life beyond the ordinary