Sabarimala: S. Krishnakumar, 59, virtually connects Sabarimala with the outside world. A sub-divisional engineer of BSNL, he is a regular visitor to Sannidhanam every month for checking the telephone connections and has witnessed the growth of Sabarimala over the last four decades. He climbed the hill at first as a devotee of Lord Ayyappa 46 years back and joined BSNL as a technician when only ‘trunk calls’ could connect the hilltop with the world outside 22 years ago.
He has had several scary encounters with wild animals too. “When I climbed Sabarimala hills during off-season years back, a spectacular sight awaited me. Through the window of my office at Sannidhanam, I could see once in a while a huge bear climbing a big tree to taste a honey comb on it,” said Mr. Krishnakumar who belongs to ‘Sree Bhadra’ at Peringara in Thiruvalla.
“I used to seek the help of an assistant to go uphill along with me when there were no human beings around and we spotted many wild animals. Once we had to run from Marakkoottam near Sannidhanam to the valley till Pampa as we were chased by a tusker,” Mr. Krishnakumar who joined BSNL as a technician in 1994 remembers. The exchange that was started at Sannidhanam in 1978 had 25 lines while now it has modern facilities, including optical fibre connectivity for leased lines.
“I have also seen tigers several times along the Nilakkal road and one was too close. It lied down when the light from our vehicle fell on its eyes,” he added. He has also seen porcupines at Saramkuthi. He will retire from his long service on May 31. “I am happy that I could do my duty for Ayyappa at Sabarimala,” he said.
