By Prasad Sampigekatte
Madikeri: Torrential rains in Kodagu has not only caused floods and landslides but also destroyed marriages. Soon after the rainy season (monsoon), the Shravana begins and with that, the marriage season which is suspended during Ashada, begins again. Whether one is rich or poor, months and years of planning goes into a marriage in our country but for a labour family from Makkandur in Kodagu all the planning ended in a heartbreak. If all had gone according to plan, Makkandur’s resident Sumitra’s daughter Ranjitha’s marriage should have been performed with much fanfare on Sept. 2. The owner of the farmland, who had helped the poor labourer’s family in all respects too, were ready having booked the local marriage hall. However, as the saying goes ‘Man proposes, God disposes’ and the rains turned villains to the poor family as also to the land owner. The rain’s fury destroyed overnight the poor family’s dreams of getting their daughter married, the girls hope of a new family and the land owner lost his estate. The gold and other items purchased for the marriage with loans were all buried under the mud. The owner who had come forward to help the poor family, lost his estate as the landslide swallowed it. Now, the labourer’s family and their owners are both in the relief centres and trying to cope with life.
