Karuppan
Karuppan was a skillful woodcutter.He was six and half feet tall with dark complexion. So he was called Karuppan.He looked like a great giant .He shattered one bullock cart of wood within a day . Though he was rough in appearance, he was very kind at heart . For him life was not a bed of roses, it was a bed of thorns . His wife gave birth to a male baby and died . Karuppan relatives urged him to marry again. But he refused to do it. He wanted to look after his son.He thought that it was his only duty in the world. He was very honest in his work. He took his baby wherever he had gone. When he was cutting wood, he kept his baby very near to him safely. He fed the baby with a bottle of milk when he cried. He worked very honestly.Obiviously the villagers loved him. They invited him to cut woods in their houses during the functions. He was also called for the temple festivals of the nearby villages. He was not only a skillful woodcutter but also good at cracking fire crackers. Karuppan fired the crackers through out the night boldly. He never exhausted in his work. What a man he is, the villagers exclaimed.He was attracted by the people of the villages . There was no temple festivals without him. He never demanded more money for his manual work. Sometimes he wished only food for his work . When he was walking on the village streets the children were very much afraid of him .They went inside their houses for hiding. Sometimes the children were hiding behind their mothers. When Karuppan saw the behaviours of the children, the big man simply smiled and passed the streets .Some of the village women fed their children by saying that Karuppan had come .The children ate their food calmly and emptied the bowls. The temple car festival was celebrated during Panguni, the Tamil month as usual in the village. The people of surrounding villages gathered there. Karuppan was also busy in pulling the decorated car along with the villagers.Suddenly,a woman shouted my child,My child loudly.Her child fell into the temple well. Most of the villagers were watching the incident. But Karuppan ran towards the well and jumped into it without any hesitation. He saved the child and handed over it to it's mother. The mother of the child fell on the feet of Karuppan .But Karuppan removed her hands of the woman like a child who touched the fire .He treated the women as the goddess always. The whole villagers talked about the courageous deed of Karuppan. His fame spread the nook and corner of the villages. Years rolled by , the son of Karuppan also grew up. Karuppan always took his son on his shoulders.He visited the nearby villages for work only on foot. The villagers wondered how he always could carry his child on his shoulders. He went to work in the morning along with his child and returned back to his hut in the evening. He never talked to his neighbours after the death of his wife .He kept quiet always. During the night hours he played with his son like a small child. He was a great puzzle to his neighbours. They didn't know at what time he arrived at his hut. They heard the sounds of the cooking vessels in the night . Sometimes they heard the huge laughter of Karuppan.The villagers said that even the dogs were not barking on seeing him. Such a kind and strong man was Karuppan.The car festival was very famous in the village during the Tamil month, Panguni.The temple authorities specially invited Karuppan to pull the car during the festival.As usual Karuppan took his son on his shoulders and walked towards the temple. The whole village was celebrating the car festival in a grand manner.The village was decorated with palm leaves, mango leaves and the bunch of coconuts.The two sides of the village streets were sealed with tea shops, sweet stalls, bangles shop and others. Thousands of people gathered there to see the car festival. Karuppan left his child in a tea stall and went near the decorated car . The crackers were fired and the temple bell rang. The green flag was waved.The car was ready to move by the villagers . Karuppan also pulled the big rope of the car along with the villagers . The car moved slowly like a flower pot. When the car was turning near the street corner,there was a loud noise came from the front wheel of the car. The people shouted and ran towards the other side of the street.The priest on the car also shouted for help. Karuppan ran towards the car and pushed back the wheel of the car. He tried his level best to make the car to erect.But he could not able to control the car that had fallen on the ground. He climbed on the car quickly and took the main idol which was placed on the middle of the car. Suddenly he jumped out of the car and fell on the other side of the street with the idol .The idol was not damaged by the clever act of Karuppan. But he fell near the broken car wheel . Unexpectedly the car wheel fell on his body. The crowd shouted loudly and ran here and there in fear. The whole place was in the state of confusion and disorder.But there was no use, Karuppan died under the car wheel .He looked like a sleeping giant. The village munchief came along with his menials to the spot. They removed the wheel from the Karuppan's body. All the people of the village were very much frightened. They praised the courageous act of him. The temple authorities said that Karuppan had saved our oldest idol from the greatest disaster .Then the villagers took his body to his hut .The whole village attended his funeral and cremated his body with great respect. They felt that Karuppan was a one man army.
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