Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Now Karadiammavan is swimming towards the crocodile, who is slowly making circles around him. It seems the crocodile is surprised by his move, and it starts growling to make his prey fear. Karadiammavan is now very near to the marbled green coloured beast, both are facing each other.

Time got freezed around them, it seems they both paused for a second before their first move. Both are looking at each others eyes. Suddenly the crocodile lashed his huge grey tail at Karadiammavan. He jumped away from the crocdile and escaped from the huge tail of crocodile. But the beast is ready for his next move by jumping toward Karadiammavan with long mouth full of strong teeths. He wants to crush Karadiammavan's legs between his teeths. But Karadiammavan jumped on the beast and caught his long mouth in his left hand and start hitting on his belly. The crocodile growled wildly and moved away from him by lashing his log tail.

Again they were ready for the next move, but this time a crow with a sharp sword did the trick. It lashed the sword gently and made a small "T" between the two eyes of the beast. Crocodile cried with pain and jumped towards the crow, but the crow moved away and made another deep cut at the tail of the crocodile.

The water around the beast has turned red, in his blood. It is wounded and slowly turned around and moved away from them.

Karadiammavan want to ask a lot of questions to the crow, but this is not the time to enquire, but to act. He starts swmming towards the otherside of the river after thanking the crow.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18


"Who is there?" Kullanaana asked.

Something is moving in the bushes behind that huge old tree. He looked at the tree and asked again "Who is there..." His voice is shivering with fear. Now he can feel, the voice is coming towards him. He wants to run from there, but his legs got paralyzed. He can't even feel his legs now! He close his eyes with fear... May be he don't want to see his death.


The voice is coming closer to him, he can now feel the presence of the threat in front of him. He slowly opened his eyes...

There is an old crow in front of him, a one eyed crow. He looked at the crow with a little relief, he wasn't expecting a crow there. Even if it is old, it seems strong and he saw a sword hanging at it's waist! It's one eye is pointed to him like a laser. He felt that it's look is sharper than it's sword.

He asked the same question again "Who are you?". But this time he is expecting an answer.

The crow looked at him for some time and instead of answering his question, it fired a question to him. "Where is Karadiammavan?"


Kullanaana tried to explain the whole situation, but not a single word came out of his tongue. Finally he just looked at the Kattaar, the forest river. And suddenly the crow flew toward the river.


Karadiammavan is trying to swim as fast as he could, to escape from the strong teeths of the crocodile. But now it is difficult to escape, "The inevitable is near!" But he is not even bothered about his decision to jump into the river. "It is for his friend, his dear friend..."

The marbled green coloured beast is now slowly making a circle around him, it seems he is not in a hurry to hunt his prey. Now, Karadiammavan lost his hope of swimming away from the crocodile. The only way to survive is to fight. He turned around and starts swimming towards the beast!

Chettipravu has reached at the tip of the Ummikkunnumala and still there is no sign of Neelakurinji. He can't believe that, because he has searched every single plant, ponds, little springs, small burrows and he is sure that nothing have missed his eyes. Now he doesn't know what to do!

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Kullanaana is waiting anxiously at the river side, all he can do is to pray for his friends. One of his friend is sick, and fighting for his life, the other are risking their lives to save him. He felt angry with himself for staying at the river side, without doing anything for his friend.

Chettipravu has crossed the river with ease, thanks to his white wings. He is now searching for the Neelakkurinji. Ummikkunnumala is a giant hill, there are lot of plants in this hill. So it is very difficult to find a well with blue flowers in it. He don't know what to do, or where to start his searching. All he know is his friend is in need of it. He starts searching for Neelakurinji from the bottom of the hill.

At the same time, Karadiammavan is swimming across the river. He is slashing the water like a shower while swimming through the river. His eyes and mind are also worried about the deadly crocodiles. He has covered about half distance through the river and suddenly he found something swimming towards him. "Oh my God, the crocodile...." he muttered. He felt like all his body has paralysed and he is unable to swim.

He realized that the danger is near. The only way to escape is "Vanadevatha", the Goddess of the Forest. He prayed to her for a second and starts swimming as fast as he can. But it is too late, the crocodile is in front of him!

Chettipravu is flying all around the Ummikkunnumala as fast as he could and he is searching every nook and corner. But there is no sign of Neelakkurinji! "Is Hippomaman is right?" He started doubting. But the only way in front of him is to search for Neelakurinji.

Kullanaana is still waiting at the bank of Kattaar. He looks restless. Now the splashes made by Karadiammavan has disappeared. He is confused. At first he thought to return near Kittukuarangan, but he can't. May be his friends need his help.  Suddenly he see some movements behind the big tree behind him. He starts slowly moving towards the tree and asked in a trembling voice "Who is there?"

Chapter 16

Chapter 16


Karadiammavan and his friends are still moving towards Ummikkunnumala. They all look pale in the severe cold. They can only see bare tree tops, shivering grasses and path infront of them going like a snake. Chettipravu is resting on the shoulders of Karadiammavan and he said.

"We have reached the 'Valley of Colors'. In the Spring we can see a lot of beautiful flowers here. Those include all the colors in the world except white. But now, the winter took all the colors from the valley leaving some stray grasses and bare trees."


Hippomaman and Potharayan are anxiously waiting for them to come with Neelakuriji. They are in the cave with Kittukurangan. Hippomaman made a bed out of hey to make the Kittukurangan warm. They even closed the cave using a big rock to avoid the cold wind. But still Kittukurangan is unconscious and he is even suffering to inhale the air.

Even the last rays of Sun has disappeared, and Karadiammavan and his friends stops walking. They found a cave to stay for the night. They stay close to make each other warm. They are now discussing about the condition of Kittukurangan and they all wanted to reach the Ummikkunnumala as early as possible. But the weather is disturbing their desire.

Finally Karadiammavan stood and said. "It's time to rest....so every one please go to sleep."


On the next day, every one woke up early and were ready to walk to Ummikkunnumala. They started walking in the early morning. The fog in the morning is blurring their vision and the frozen wind cut through their skin. Still they are walking...

They have now reached near the Ummikkunnumala, but they have to cross the Kattaar, the big river in the forest to reach there. They all stood near the Kattaar. The big river is flowing without much waves in it. Since it is winter, the water is frozen like hell and everyone says that there is a crocodile in the river. No land animal have ever came out of the river alive, once fall into it. But they have to cross the Kattar to save their good friend.

Karadiammavan finally suggested one solution. They have Chettipravu with them who can fly, so he will fly across the river and find the 'Well with the Neelakurinji' as early as possible. Karadiammavan will swim across the river and Kullanaana will wait at the bank of Kattaar until they will return.

"But, the crocodiles?" Kullanaana disagreed. " They will hunt you in the water. So think of another way."


"Don't worry, I'll be safe..." Karadiammavan suddenly jumped into the river and starts swimming. Chettiparvu looked at him for a second and turned to Kulllanaana. He said "We will return soon...good bye."


Kullanaana stood at the river side looking at his friends moving away from him. Now all he can do is to pray for his friends. He is worried about the crocodiles in the river.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15


Seasons changed, Spring to winter. The winter has flourished all along the Chekotta forest. The trees shivered in the winter and fall their leaves. All the animals are in their shelters. They wait for noon to come out of their home. Some of the birds even migrated to the other part of the world, where sun is glowing. Most of the animals wished for wings, so that they could also fly away from the winter.

Now Kardiammavan and Kittukurangan live together in a cave. After the adventure at the Theankunnu, they have made a lot of friends in Chekotta forest. The Chettipravu, Kullanaana, Potharayan were some of their friends. Chettipravu is a beautiful white dove. Kullanaana is a an elephant, but his height is very small. So all the elephants make fun of him. He now find felicity in the crew of a small cute dove, a half tailed monkey, a migrated bear from the neighbouring forest and Potharayan, a big rough looking buffalo. Anyone will shiver with fear, if they see Potharayan for the first time. But actually he is a nice one, he hasn't hurt even an ant in his whole life.

The winter wind gazed over the entire forest like a wild eagle. Everyone  wants the winter to end. Sometimes there is heavy rain in the winter. The freezed water will it hit you like a sharp arrow. It is now raining outside. All of them stay inside the big cave side by side to make themselves warm. Kittukurangan is shivering in the cold gentle wind. It seems that he is suffering from fever. "Haaachi..." he sneezed.

One day has passed, now the condition of Kittukurangan has become worse. He has become grey with fever, his lips starts shivering and his inhaling has become painful. Karadiammavan and his friends stay near him. But they don't know what to do. Suddenly the old Hippopotamus, walks near to them. His name is Hippomaman, he looked at Kittukurangan and said


"He is suffering from Chronic fever. If you want to save him, we need the medicinal plant called Neelakurinji from a well at the top of Ummikkunnumala.These plants will flourish only on winter. We need the flowers of Neelakuriji with in 5 days..."


"Ummikkunnumala! It is a dangerous place. I heard that there are a lot of poisonous snakes in Ummikkunnumala." Potharayan said in an alarming voice.

"Don't worry, in this winter most of them are in their barrows deep in the Soil." Hippomaman siad. After looking at Kittukurangan he paused for sometime and continued "But you have to face the serpents inside the well. They are quite cunning and dangerous."


Hearing all these, Karadiammavan stood and said. "Friends, one of our friends is fighting for his life here. There is only one way we can help him. Who are with me to go to the Ummikunnumala to get the Neelakuriji?" Then he looked at his friends.By that time everyone of them, stood up showing their willingness.

Karadiammavan continued. "Potharayan and Hippomaman will stay with Kittukurangan to look after him. Me, Chettipravu and Kullanana will go to the Ummikunnumala and get the Neelakurinji."


Three of them starts walking towards the Ummikunnumala after saying good bye to Kittukuarangan and friends.They are struggling to walk through the cold wind. Karadiammavan heard Hippomaman saying loudly from the back "Don't forget, with in 5 days we need the medicine..."


They have a long way to travel to Ummikkunnumala. The way before them goes like a snake and the cold wind is making them uncomfortable. Karadiammavan and his friends are now thinking about only one thing in this world. It is Neelakuriji...

Chapter 14

Chapter 14


Karadiammavan and Kittukurangan slowly step towards the Theankunnu, where the inevitable threat lies. Karadiammavan reassure himself by paying attention at the prize. For every risk we take, there is a prize. Here it is his favorite food, honey. He looks at Kittukurangan's face, while they are walking. His face has become pale and he is sweating a lot.

Now they have walked some distance from the warning board at the entrance. Still their is no sign of any attack. May be it's a trap. They can see huge trees where the honey comb and the wasp hive swing on the branches like fruits. Karadiammavan stops near a small Jackfruit tree. On the tree there is huge honey comb of the size of jackfruit. Karadiammavan looks at Kittukurangan and pointed his finger towards the honey comb.

Suddenly Kittukurangan jumped to the tree and starts climbing. He can hear his heart beating, but still he climbs up and pluck the honey comb and throw it towards Karadiammavan. Suddenly they can hear the humming sound of bees and wasp.

Kittukurangan climbed down the tree as if he is falling. He cried loud "Oh, they are coming....." Karadiammavan said "Run...run..."


They can see a clouds of bees and wasp coming towards them. At the same time ants are forming a wall at the exit. Karadiammavan understood that they are trapped. They are surrounded by a huge army. He is now regretting his decision to come there. "What will I do?" He starts asking himself and nothing is coming to his mind.

"Open the Uuch petti....open it now..." Kittukuarangan is crying. He is being attacked by a group of wasp and ants. And Karadiammavan see a group of bees and wasp is approaching towards him.

Karadiammavan suddenly returned to his consciousness and opened the Uuch petti after putting the mask. Now he can see the bees and wasps falling from the sky, it is like a huge rain. Kittukurangan also become unconscious. Karadiammvan take Kittukurangan and honeycomb and starts walking. He can see wall that made by the ants is now falling apart. He slowly walked over them, without hurting them. While leaving the Theankunnu, he looked at the warning board and said "Sweet dreams..."

Chapter 13

Chapter 13


Karadiammavan slowly opened his eyes after the sleep, he starts looking around to find someone. But no one is near him. He wonder, where does the Kittukurangan go? He starts walking through the small way, full of white flowers, before him. The forest is full of beautiful butterflies, but the humming sound of their wings make him uncomfortable. At the far end of the way he can see a big rock, he starts walking swiftly to reach there. Both of his eyes were focused on the big rock and the humming sound of butterflies starts to hypnotise him. Now he feels like flying, his ears starts hearing whispering from the butterflies "Please don't go there.... don't go there..." But all he can do is to walk towards the rock. Finally he reach near the rock. It is a huge, brown colored rock and  strangely there is no butterflies near the rock. He feels like, he is infront of a mountain. He slowly looks at the top of the rock and see Simhathamburan. His eyes cannot believe that! Simhathamburan is looking at him. He can see a cruel smile on his face. He wants to run from there, but his legs are immovable now. Simhathamburan slowly starts climbing  down from the rock towards him and when he reach infront of him, he made a huge roar. The whole forest get trembled in his roar. And all Karadiammavan can do is to cry as loudly as possible...


"Aahhh...." Karadiammavan jumped out of his sleep like a frog and opened his eyes. "Oh it is a bad dream!" he whispered.

He looks around him. It is still dark, and today the shining moon and the twinkling stars are absent in the sky. He feel that they may have disappear after hearing his loud cry. Karadiammavan looked at Kittukurangan, he is sleeping near him.The monkey with half tail sleep with an innocent smile in his face. He want to sleep again, but the dream made him uncomfortable. He has been away from the Ariyankavu forest for atleast a week now, but still he is dreaming about Simhathmburan. Now he is worried about Kaallettan, his father. Is he safe there?


He slowly rise from there and walk to the pond near him. He sit near the pond just looking at the water. His mind is still worried about the Kallettan...Slowly a cool wind hugged him, it may be the hug of Mother nature. He sit there waiting for the sun to rise.

The sun is rising slowly and it's warm rays made Kittukurangan awake. He slowly rubbed his eyes and nose and starts whispering, " Oh, Sun rises this much fast!" He reached the pond and washed his face. He go near Karadiammavan and asked "What's the plan for today?"


"I don't have one, do you have any?" Karadiammavan replied.

Kittukurangan stand there for a while looking at the sky and answered. "Yes, I have a plan. We can go to the Theankunnu and eat some honey for breakfast. What do you think?"


Hearing the word "honey" Karadiammavan become interested. "Okay, let's go..." He replied.

"But there is a problem, to take honey from Theankunnu is not easy." Kittukurangan said. "I just give the plan to cheer up you. Actually Theankunnu is a dangerous place. There we have to face honeybee sting and the wasp sting at the same time. They are ready to attack anytime."


"Don't worry, I am an expert in this." Karadiammavan said.

Theankunnu is dangerous place, where the bees and wasp stay together. They have made a colony for themselves. No intruders are allowed there. Even the lions and elephants were afraid to go there. Last month they have even made an alliance with the ants. Now all the ants in the Chenkotta forest also live their. Small organisms with a huge army. No one ever survived their force. Kittukurangan explained all these things to Karadiammavan while they are walking to Theankunnu.

While they are walking to the Theankunnu, all the animals stared at them. They all wonder why these two animals go in the direction of Theankunnu. Some old birds start praying to the Vandevatha, the Forest God, after seeing Karadiammavan and Kittukurangan. They all believes that, these to animals are walking to their death.

Finally Karadiammavan and Kittukurangan reach near the Theankunnu. They can see big piles of soil and huge honey combs. Kittukurangan pointed his finger towards a board. It says:

                                       "Theankunnu- No intruders allowed.
                                               Enter at your own risk."

Chapter 12

Chapter 12


It is noon now, and still Kittukurangan is asleep. Karadiammavan is anxiously waiting for that monkey to open his eyes. He has a lot of questions to ask him. Karadiammavan looked at the sun, it is shinning brightly.

Karadiammavan is very hungry now. Since yesterday, he hasn't eat anything. He felt a strange burn in his stomach. Finally he stood from there and walked near to the pond and drink some more water.He felt really tired. He just remembered the tasty honey he used to ate from Madhumala. It's golden color and beautiful smell made the taste even more refreshing.

After drinking water from the pond, Karadiammavan turned his head to the monkey. "Ahhh..." he cried in anger. Now there is no one lying on the ground, the monkey has got away. Karadiammavan felt angry to himself. He has stayed there, nearly half a day just looking at the sleeping face of that monkey,  just to ask him some questions and now he is missing.

"Hey, are you looking for me?" a sound from the big mango tree asked Karadiammavan. Karadiammavan suddenly looked at the mango tree. He saw that half tailed monkey on the lower branch of the tree.

"Who are you and why did you follow me?" Karadiammavan asked in anger.

"Hey friend, I'm Kittukurangan. I think you have misunderstood me, I am not following you, I am just watching you." He asked, " I haven't seen you before, are you new to our forest?"


"Yes, I am new here, I am from Ariyankavu forest. " Karadiammavan replied.

"So you are the one who killed the Pandarapada soldiers, some days before, right?" Kittukurangan asked.

"No, I am not the one who killed them. It was that one eyed crow, killed them." Karadiammavan replied.

"Hmm..." Kittukurangan shook his head. Karadiammavan understood that he is not going to believe his answer.

Kittukurangan continued. " You must be hungry. Come with me I will show your food." 


Karadiammavan's heart poped up after hearing those magical words "...your food" His stomach is empty and it is crying for food. Kittukurangan take him to a vast field of banana plants. The plant heads droop towards earth because of the weight of the huge, ripe, yellow clusters of bananas. Karadiammavan looked at  Kittukurangan with a disbelief in his eyes. Kittukurangan smiled at him and said, "It's all yours..."


It was a long lunch for Karadiammavan. He ate a lot of those tasty bananas. Now his huge belly become dancing again.

After the lunch, they started walking. "Bye the way, what is that box in your hand?" Kittukurangan asked.

"I don't know, it produces an awful smell." Karadiammavan replied. "Oh, then this smell made me unconscious in the morning, right" Kittukurangan asked.

"Hmm.." Karadiammavan shook his head.

"What is it's name?" Kittukurangan asked and Karadiammavan replied instantly " I don't know, you can name it..." He is now starting to feel little dizzy. His belly is full now and he needed a sleep. He find a place to sleep under a big banyan tree. He said "I need some sleep." and lay there.

While he is slowly falling asleep, he heard the voice of Kittukurangan. " What about 'uuch petti...' It is a good name, right?"  He agreed in a tired voice "Ahh.. uuch petti.... good name!"  His eyes drooped and his snoring made the area noisy. And by his side, Kittukurangan is still thinking about a better name for the suitcase.

All this time, the sharp eyes of the one eyed crow is watching them.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

On the next morning, Karadiammavan wake up, earlier than usual, the sun is still trying to lay his first rays on the earth. There is darkness everywhere. He just lie there, looking at the deep dark sky without any stars. His mind is blank as the sky on that night, he don't know how to go back to his forest. He is waiting for the sun to rise.

The Sun starts slowly rising and a bright red colour spread all over the horizon. Karadiammavan is now looking at the sun mechanically, he is not able to enjoy the beauty of the rising sun. When heart is confused nothing seems beautiful.

He slowly stood from there and looked around. The whole forest is still sleeping, he felt jealousy to those animals who slept peacefully. He saw a pond near him and reached near it. He drink some water from the pond. While drinking water from the pond he looked at the his image in the water. It is not the face of a happy one. He starts walking, home is calling...

While he is drinking water from the pond, someone is watching him and now he is following Karadiammavan. It is a monkey, his name is Kittukurangan. He is a small, brown coloured monkey. His eyes where so cute and he is a master of diving from one tree to another. But his tail is injured, now he has only a half tail. Since he is without a complete tail, the monkey group didn't take him to their league and now he is alone...

Once, he had very beautiful tail. Every monkey in the Chenkotta forest dreamed for such a tail. It was so long, and curly, so soft and strong. Kittukurangan was really proud about his tail. About 5 years ago, he went to the Ariyankavu forest, to take part in the "Most Beautiful Tail Contest" and won the title. Everyone in the Ariyankavu forest became fans of his tail and Kurukketan became jealous to him.

Kurukketan, made Simhathamburan believe that Kittukurangan had a beautiful tail and everyone admire him than the King. Simhathamburan ordered to cut the tail of Kittukurangan. The rest is history...

Karadiammavan have a strange feeling that, someone is following him. He just looked all around, but didn't see anyone. Still his heart is saying that, "Someone is following you..." 


Finally he decided, to open the suitcase. He slowly opened the suitcase, and the smell starts filling the air around him. He felt a little dizzy and closed his nose suddenly with the "thing" stick on to his feet earlier from the house of the Scientist. Now he is alright, he can breathe without any problem and there is no sign of the bad smell. It is a Breathing Mask. He slowly removed a the mask from his nose and the disgusting smell starts rushes into his nose. Now he knows that the "thing" can resist the smell. He again covered his nose with the mask.

Suddenly, a monkey fell from a tree like a big fruit and Karadiammavan closed his suitcase. Karadiammavan went near him and starts waiting for the monkey to wake from his deep sleep. He have a lot of questions to ask him...

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

On the very next morning, Karadi ammavan doesn't know what to do, he just walked through the way before him. It is a long walk. While walking through the way, he see the beauty of the Chenkotta forest, where the rainbow appear over the forest like an umbrella. He see a lot of beautiful butterflies, cute small animals, greenish grasshoppers, color changing chameleons, pretty fishes in the ponds, mighty elephants... But his eyes are searching for that one eyed crow. His mind is still asking the question " Who is she?"

It has become dusk, and still he is walking. He has reached the border of Chenkotta forest now, but still he is walking, he doesn't know what to do. On the way he saw a lot of animals, he wanted to talk to them, but is not feeling comfortable here.

The Sun has completed his usual trip from east to west, and the smiling face of Moon has appeared in the sky. The stars were twinkling, and he felt that they are laughing at him.

On the border of the Chenkotta forest, he see a small house. It is for the first time in his life, he has seen such a big shelter. It is so big when compared to his home in Ariyankavu. There is light inside and outside it. He looks at it with astonishment. Suddenly he see a two legged creature coming out of the house. He whispered,
 "Humans! cruel humans!"

He saw a few humans before, when he was in Ariyankavu forest. He saw them driving huge vehicles through the Highway. He wanted to interact with them, but father always said , "They are the real devils in the earth!" He always says" Humans are even more cruel than the Simhathamburan!"

He wants to run away from the humans, but his curious heart advised him to go and watch them. He slowly walked to the house. He has reached near the window and looked in side the house.

In that house, there lived an old man, he is actually a crazy scientist. He wanted to create the most refreshing perfume in the whole world. He even found a new formula to make his dream a success.Karadiammavan is watching him through the window while he is doing his experiment...

Karadiammavan see the human is taking a small vessel and pouring some liquids drop by drop into it. By each time he add a drop of the liquid, the whole air around him is filled with a refrehing smell. Karadiammavan didn't even smelled such a kind of beautiful smell in his entire life.  He felt as if he where in heaven for a second.

The human is saying something to himself in a language, that Karadiammavan didn't understand. " Let's add a small drop of Hydrogen sulphide to make my perfume, jelly and more unique...." He continued while taking the vessel of Hydrogen sulphide " No one will ever guess that my secret ingredient is Hydrogen sulphide, the foul smelling chemical!" and he laughed.

Suddenly, an insect from a flower near the window, entered into the nose of Karadiammavan and he uttered a huge sneeze.... The old man hearing the roar of a bear, looked at the window. When he saw the huge animal at this window, he lost his consciousness. The large vessel of hydrogen sulphide and the small test tube of the perfume together fall from his hand into a suitcase near him. And then happened the worst... A huge, pungent, ugly, smell , the ugliest smell in the whole world contaminated the air around it. It was like the burst of a Smell Bomb and Karadiammavan felt dizziness and he saw the whole world is revolving around him... He fell down like a huge tree...

Karadiammavan woke up. It has become noon. He felt as if he has slept for an year. He see the human is still lying there. Along with him there lie that suitcase closed. Karadiammavan entered into the house very slowly and reached near the human, he is still in his deep sleep. Karadiammavan took that suitcase and opened it slightly, suddenly that ugly smell starts filling his nose, he closed the suitcase and his nose at the same time. He took the suitcase and started running from there. While running in a hurry, something got sticked into his leg. He run from there with all his strength closing the nose and reached the forest.

When he reached the forest, he breathed the air like he have never even breathed before. After sometime, his mind got relaxed. He found that the suitcase is still with him.Then he found something is sticking on his left leg he took it and looked at it with curiosity. He didn't understand, what is it...