by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

Chamarajanagar, Feb 28:  Promises are not always meant to be broken and if there is a person who, apart from practicing what he promised, keeps his high-principled gesture a secret by not trying to get extra mileage from it, he richly deserves appreciation.

The year was 1995 when the dreaded forest brigand Veerappan attacked a village in the district here and shot a man to death making his family to struggle without a breadearner. Then, as usual, politicians visited the village to console the family of the victim.

There were promises galore by the high-pitched voices of people's representatives and what had remained a secret all these years was that a promise of one politician 'with a difference' that has seen the son of that villager to stand on his own feet.

That politician is none other than the Deputy Chief Minister of the State B.S. Yediyurappa.

On that fateful night of Aug. 9, 1995, Veerappan landed in Punajanur village here and gunned down five villagers to teach a lesson for informing the whereabouts of his wife Muthulakshmi to the STF team.

A villager N. Nagaraj, belonging to Badigar community, was among the dead alongwith Bhadregowda, Dundappa, Mahalinga and Muthegowda.

Extreme poverty was staring at Nagaraj's family of wife and three children. After that ghastly incident, the family's woes could not even be imagined as worse. It was shattering.

This was when the usual brief visits of politicians that started doing the rounds. One by one came and went, after promising them whatever needed.

The then Opposition leader Yediyurappa also happened to visit the village and consoled the family members of the deceased.

The philanthropic side of a politician, that was Yediyurappa, acted and in no time there was an assurance. He chose Kirankumar, son of Nagaraj, who had studied up to SSLC.

Yediyurappa said, 'I will take this boy and get him education'. That was it and no looking back for that son of a poor villager. Kirankumar completed ITI in Raghavendra College of ITI in Basaveswaranagar in Bangalore. He is now working in a private college in Bangalore far away from the thoughts of what his future could have been with poverty staring at him.

Kirankumar's brother Krishna proudly says that the Deputy Chief Minister looks after his brother like his own son and they often visit him.