MEMORIES OF MY HOME TOWN

A wonderful town and a miracle hill



Kovilpatti (or Koilpatti as some preferred to spell it) though a small town was very famous for a few things. Even in the early 1940’s Kovilpatti was an active participant in all hockey contests. The Kovilpatti Sports Club produced very good te ams and the school team was one of the best in the state.

There was a tennis club which organized tournaments every year. Some famous players of the day took part in these tournaments. Ramanathan Krishnan made his debut here when he was a very young boy.

Two cultural organizations also served the people well. Vyjayanthimala made her public dance debut in the annual festival of one of these clubs. Lalitha and Padmini performed here quite often when they were very young. In one of these performances, Lalitha as the wife sheds copious tears and wipes her eyes in her saree, and then wrings the saree. Padmini as the husband cups her hands and collects the falling tears which she then takes to the edge of the stage and throws off. The audience started laughing at this exaggeration. And Lalitha also started giggling, and so did Padmini and laughter rocked the auditorium. But then the dancers settled down to their routine and the performance went on smoothly.

The breeze that cured


Another thing Kovilpatti was famous for was its breeze. The strong breeze which was supposed to help sick people kept blowing throughout the day. Since it came past Gurumalai (or Kurumalai as some spelt it) the breeze was supposed to have medicinal value.

People suffering from tuberculosis were asked to live in Kovilpatti and expose themselves to the breeze. Many people came to this town just for this purpose.

A beautiful young lady was brought here by her husband. They seemed to be a couple very much in love with each other. They took a house at the end of our street. And he lavished a lot of tender care on her. It was obvious to all that she was in an advanced state of TB with very little hope of survival. But the young husband would not give up hope. He sat by her side all day long and throughout the night too perhaps.

When she eventually died he was distraught with sadness. He went about with very little care for his personal appearance. We as young boys watched this tragedy unfold right in front of our eyes. Some of our relatives also came to our town and we found houses for them. They stayed there in the hope of recovery from TB. Many doctors recommended a stay in Kovilpatti to their TB patients.

A miraculous revival


The small hill Gurumalai was supposed to be a piece of the Sanjeevi hill carried by Hanuman. While Hanuman was flying over this area, a piece from the hill that he was carrying fell down, and that piece was Gurumalai.

According to legend, a zamindar from a neighbouring area went hunting in Gurumalai. He was mainly aiming for a deer. A number of his men were accompanying him. And then by accident he shot one of these men. It looked like the man was dead. And then someone told the zamindar that if the man were carried round the hill three times he may be saved.

So the zamindar ordered his men to carry the injured man round the hill. The zamindar also accompanied them. On the completion of three rounds the man stirred. Cheers broke out as the man slowly opened his eyes and looked at his friends. It seemed a miracle. People believed that Gurumalai could produce miracles.

And it is nice to know that miracles can still happen.