The man who carried the Indian President up Sabarimala...but lost his chance at a Govt job

Pathanamthitta: Krishnan’s life today is heavier than the load he carried half a century ago. When luck smiled upon him, a small twist of fate cost him what could have been a lifetime of security — a government job.

In 1973, when President V V Giri visited Sabarimala, Krishnan from Peyad in Thiruvananthapuram, was one of the four men who carried him to the Sannidhanam in a dolly (a traditional seat fastened to two poles).

After the darshan, President Giri, upon returning to Delhi, recommended that the central government offer jobs to the four men who had carried him. However, when the police arrived to verify their details, Krishnan was away from home. Out of fear, his family told the police that Krishnan had no connection with the house and that they didn’t know where he was.

Two years later, the country was plunged into Emergency, and Krishnan’s file slipped into oblivion. The three others who had carried the dolly were appointed as central government employees.

Krishnan had first arrived in Pampa as a porter at the age of 20. On that day, the President’s journey began from the Pampa Ganapathi Temple courtyard in the afternoon and proceeded along the Swami Ayyappan Road under tight security. After the darshan and a brief rest, the President descended the hill in the same dolly.

Krishnan remained at Sabarimala until the age of 30. All he remembers is that the others who carried the dolly were from Idukki and Pathanamthitta regions. He only knew that they got government jobs but has no further information about them.

Now 81, Krishnan’s health is doing poorly. His son Suresh, a painter, is bedridden after falling from a building. His wife Kanchana is also unwell. The elderly couple live in a small, unsafe house, and even at this age, Krishnan continues to work as a security guard to make ends meet.