Warrior of Periyar

Chapter 1

Periyar,
the mighty river that has it's origins in aanakuthi vayal and flows through Kerala and into the Arabian sea.
The source of livelihood for many that lives on it's banks. To them, periyar is a paradise.

In the heart of the forest that accompanies the river in it's journey, is a tribe called kkjjrq mannan.
They were experienced and talented in navigating through the backwaters.
An occupation passed from one generation to the other , performed by all men and women in the family .

Thamara is one of them and destined to become a srank(a boatman) . She was a fit girl of 17 with the strength needed to carry a thambakam branch all by herself for miles.
An odd one in her community and the bread winner of her family which includes her bed ridden mother and siblings.
There is nothing special about her,she is a girl like anyone else . But an incident that happened in her childhood has made her into someone respected by all elders in her colony

When thamara was 12 years old, at the beginning of the monsoons , a wild tiger attacked and caused terror in their colony . Days before this event, the village chief received a prophecy from a seer, who had stated , "The mountain gods are angry with the intrusion of men in their caverns , Follow the misfortune brought with the rain and fight the men off." They saw the tiger as the sign they were waiting for and assembled a small group of warriors to follow it . The Chief also declared that if they came back victorious They will be titled as the Warriors of Periyar.

This group of youngsters included thamara's father. She wished to go with him but he disagreed.Her curiousity beseech her to follow the men into the depths of the forest.

A month later when the rain became more intense, a farmer who was taking his cattle to a higher ground did not expect to find Thamara covered in mud and blood. She was badly wounded.

As the only survivor of the group that went into the forest . Her return was celebrated and she was given the title of the "Warrior of Periyar".

No one mourned for the disappearance of the others or send another to find them .The community believed that once they were in the forest then their lives depended on the mercy of nature. Only the ones who proved their might in front of the forest could ever come back.

But thamara did not remember why she was spared , she could only remember bits and pieces of her encounter.
Though like everybody, she chose to forget about the terrors of the past .
Other than being the only survivor of a ghastly event , she had done nothing to earn the position of a warrior.

But she did recieve unwanted attention and as the warrior of their colony she was sent to an English school with a few others. The knowledge of the English language did not help her in her daily chores but it helped to prosper the trade relations between the tribes and the strange colonisers.

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"Uhhh!! These bloody mosquitoes " said Captain Bernard G Davis. He was a chiseled man of 40 ,with a big moustache that covered half of his face. He was the operation leader responsible for the mapping of Periyar and dividing the forest region . Though a man of adventure , right now in the middle of the jungle he was missing his comfy position in Delhi .

"Well ,will you shut up now!! We are nearly there "huffed Elaine Dennings, a young women of 20 who was assisting the group in finding the colony . She had a compass in hand and was looking for signs of civilization. She had Auburn hair with light green eyes . She was also petite which gained her quite a number of admirers.

These two were handling the matters of all the other 15 soldiers ,as they proved to be useless in the wild.
The group moved forward while the  captain became frustrated he put one hand on his gun in anticipation of a dangerous animal jumping at them,he was interested in taking home a fur coat or two
.

Elaine was becoming more and more tired , she was starting to feel that they were completely and utterly lost

She looked at the compass and tried to listen to the forest and then she heard it..........
a strong roar almost similiar to that of a tiger ,She realised that it was the Periyar, calling to them .Elaine's happy voice boomed as she informed that they had arrived.They were greeted joyfully by the mannans.

Thamara looked on at the sight of the new and unique visitors . Then she smiled at the  prospect of something exciting happening.

The End

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