Bikkalahalli
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Helping Segunase, because Mugalkhod had helped them
Kiran Parashar, Sep 8, 2019: The Times of India
No one in Segunase, a remote village in north Karnataka’s Belagavi district, has heard of Venkatesh Kallappanavar. But a “good deed” by the 40-year-old farmer over a decade ago has now changed the hamlet’s fortunes.
When floods ravaged the region in August this year, most of the 200 families in Segunase lost their homes and agricultural lands. But help arrived, and from unexpected quarters. Another village, Bikkalahalli in Chikkaballapura district, 600km away, decided to “adopt” deluge-hit Segunase. And why? Residents of Bikkalahalli had decided to repay an act of kindness shown to them several years ago by helping another village.
In 2008, Venkatesh from Belagavi’s Mugalkhod village donated a pair of cows to a local temple in Bikkalahalli. “In many temples in south India, it’s a tradition to keep cows. They are usually donated by devotees. Our temple did not receive much donations back then. The footfall was barely 100 even on important days,” said Manjunath BK, head of Yogamuneshwara temple and a civil engineer. Venkatesh was in touch with Manjunath and when he got to know that the temple was in need of cows — ubiquitous in religious celebrations in these parts — he offered to donate his. “Venkatesh refused to take money. He said he was unable to take care of his cattle because his village was reeling under drought and he wanted to donate them to us. Soon after, the footfall and donations at our temple increased drastically. Today, about 3,000 devotees offer prayers here on special days. The cows are worshiped for the good luck they brought us,” Manjunath said.
So when news spread of floods wreaking havoc in Belagavi district last month, residents of Bikkalahalli reached out to Mugalkhod to see if they needed help. Mugalkhod had escaped without much damage, but they were told that 60km away, Segunase hadn’t had the same luck. Bikkalahallithen decided to use temple funds to ‘adopt’ and help the village.
A team of 20 visited Segunase to assess damage and grain, clothes, farming equipment and other essentials were quickly distributed. “We’ll continue to support the village in every way until it returns to normal,” Manjunath said.
Mallappa Shirol, a Segunase resident, said, “It is unbelievable that a man’s good deed several years ago came around to help us. Now we have clothes, food, books for our children and cattle fodder. We have also been promised school bags and uniforms for 140 students this week. Some residents from Bikkalahalli are staying with us to ensure we get everything we need.”
The man at the centre of all this, Venkatesh, was heartened to hear of the matter. “I’m glad that Bikkalahalli decided to help out another village,” said Venkatesh, who now works as a construction labourer in Bengaluru.
