#158:From my unlocked diaries: My Magadi Days – Part 2

For those who missed?My Magadi Days - Part 1, here’s the link …

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/157from-my-unlocked-diaries-magadi-days-part-1-r-balu-/?trackingId=iMyAzUGZTIatrZ7BFYhU0A%3D%3D

Continued…

My conversation with?Harish Shetty (Harish),?the owner of?Vasvi Departmental Stores?made me feel truly nostalgic of my childhood days spent in Magadi (about 60 Km from Bengaluru) during the late 1970s.?While the Bank building, which was our home had survived the tide of change, the government school that I went to, the cinema tent and Vasamba Hall … was all now gone.?I have fond and vivid memories of them all.?

Before bidding goodbye to Harish, I suddenly remembered one more name, and I asked him – ‘Where is Dr. Shivaram now’??Though I knew what his answer would be, but still felt like asking …

‘Sir, Dr. Shivaram passed away almost 20 years ago’

The reason I still remember Dr. Shivaram is because of a very funny incident that occurred in my school when I made a fool of myself !?

I was perhaps in 2nd standard in the nearby Magadi government school.?I don’t remember why, but I had a strange liking towards coloured chalk pieces.?Well, I should shamelessly admit now - these coloured long chalks were very tasty too !?Yes, I would often eat them !! I would run across the street to?Shetty Angadi?(Shetty Stores – Now Vasavi Departmental Stores) to buy these long, coloured chalk pieces just before going to school.

It was a normal day in school.?I don’t exactly remember what I was trying to do with the chalk piece; a small piece got stuck in my nose.?All was well for a few minutes.?I soon started developing breathlessness.?Someone in the class alerted the teacher about my plight.?‘Kulla Meshtru’ (dwarf teacher – I can’t remember his name.?Everyone called him by this name, as he was very short and funny !) seeing my plight panicked too, and within minutes guess who landed up in school ? – My father !?

Seeing my plight, he did not know how to react, but I knew he was very angry with me.?But he quietly and calmly took me to the nearby?Dr. Shivaram’s clinic.

I still can’t forget that image of Dr. Shivaram smiling, removing the chalk from my nose using a surgical clip and asking me – ‘Hey Balu, this is supposed to be used for writing, what was it doing in your nose?’

After a few back & forth with the surgical clip, out came the ‘bloody’ chalk piece, from out of my bloody nose.?And I was back to breathing normally !!?

After that incident, the demand for coloured chalk piece from Shetty Angadi fell drastically.?I had quietly made the transition to pencils instead.?No, no… I did not ever do what you are imagining now, with the damn pencil !?

As I drove past the location where my school once stood. I noticed that in its place now was a commercial complex.

Another aspect about Magadi that is still etched in my memory is the?Shankranti?celebrations. Magadi being an agrarian region, the highlight of the Shankranti evening was the customary event of local farmers bringing their colourfully decorated bulls and make them cross over fire.?This event in Kannada is called –?Kichchu Haisodu.

The reason I remember this so vividly is because of?Ramachandra, our domestic help.?Ramachandra hailed from a nearby village and had his own farm. Not just that, he also owned cattle and was particularly proud of his two bulls.?It was Ramachandra who took me to the Kichchu Haisodu event.

As a kid, this image of the bulls crossing over fire has stayed in my memory.?I would always wonder why farmers were so cruel to the bulls during Shankranti event??It’s only later I realized the reason;?it’s symbolic of the way for farmers get rid of insects and fungal growth from the foot of these bulls, as they often work these bulls in slushy and damp fields during monsoon and winter seasons.?

Driving further down on that road, I stopped next at a location down the road where?Balaji tent?(cinema tent) once stood.

This is the place where I remember seeing my first movie in my life.?I have vivid memories of the day, and the yes - the movie too !

Now let me take you back to that evening show, in Balaji tent … about 40 years ago.

It all started one evening while playing on the road outside the Bank.?Suddenly a?‘Jataka Gaadi’ (horse drawn carriage) fitted with a loudspeaker entered the street. Some of us just followed it, as if like being drawn to a magnet.?The man riding the Jataka Gaadi was making an announcement through the loudspeaker fitted to the carriage. He was also distributing Kannada pamphlets to everyone on the street.??He was announcing about the Kannada movie playing in the nearby Balaji tent.??

I grabbed one of the pamphlets and rushed home. The way the Jataka Gaadi man described the movie and it’s famous scenes, and in particular - the actor, I made a resolve to watch the movie, come what may.??

After a lot of pestering, my father finally relented.?He sent me to Balaji tent to watch this movie along with Ramachandra.?Finally the evening arrived.?I was going to watch my first movie in the famous Balaji tent, that I had only seen from the ‘outside’.?

I entered Balaji tent, going through the long, worn-out and tired curtains at the door.?No tickets, no questions asked by the man at the entrance??Ramachandra made sure he used my father’s name to its best use.?As we walked in, he just said - ‘Bank Manager maga’ (Bank Manager’s son), and walked straight inside, climbing up the squeaky steps, to be seated in balcony class !??

The cinema tent inside seemed like a temple.?The popular Kannada song ‘Namo Venkatesha, Namo Tirumalesha’ played in the background.?A large, colourful image of?'Lord Balaji'?and?'Goddess Padmavathi'?was prominently displayed on two corners of the large screen.?The long-wrinkled curtains covering the large, white movie screen seemed waiting for long, to be lifted up - to unravel the tinsel world that lay beyond.?It seemed like the old curtains at the entrance door was the only divide between the ‘real’ world outside, and the ‘reel’ world inside.??

As my eyes got used to the darkness inside, I could notice rays of light beaming from the projector room above piercing through the air suspended with a strange mix of beedi smoke and dust.?A kind of ‘dhoop’ (incense) and aroma filled the hall !?An occasional torch light flickered here and there.?It was the man at the door, trying to direct people towards empty spots on the floor.?As he directed the traffic inside the chaotic tent, his torch light occasionally flickered on people’s faces.?

I soon realised (much unlike the plush multiplexes these days !), the tent had only two classes – ground & balcony class; yes, ground class was just squatting on the sand and mud, and that’s where all the filmy ‘dust’ was coming from.?And yes, the royal ‘balcony’ class was just an elevated wooden platform standing on bamboo poles for support.??Both Ramachandra and me proudly took our seats on ‘Chandan’ steel chairs in the balcony, feeling elevated a little !

Representative picture only

The whistles and the chaotic sounds suddenly fell silent. The movie had started.?As soon as?Rajkumar’s (Dr. Raj) name flashed on the big screen, the tent erupted to resounding whistles, which lasted for almost couple of minutes.?Not knowing how to whistle, I just enjoyed the cacophony !?

That day I was watching the famous Kannada movie -?Bedara Kannapa,?a black & white movie.?It was also the very first cinema appearance by?Annavaru?(Dr. Rajkumar) ! And my first too, watching one !!?

Soon?it was time for interval. Dim lights came on. The curtain at the doors were thrown open, and in came vendors like a swarm of bees from all directions.?With petromax lanterns in hand some were selling fried peanuts, mango and guava pieces peppered with salt and spice powder.?No, there was no popcorn; that was a much later invention !??

The first few minutes after the interval was punctuated by sounds of people shelling the roasted peanuts, to engage their mouths.?Soon it was time for the climax scene.?

This is a scene that’s etched in my memory, I am sure every Kannadiga of my generation will also relate to this ....

There was pin-drop silence in the audience during this scene, even as the popular, epic kannada song – ‘Shivappa Kayo Tande, Muru Loka Swamy Deva, Hasive Yannu Thala Larey, Kaapadiyaa’?played in the background.?In the darkness, I could notice a few ladies in the audience crying at this emotional scene played out by Rajkumar.?A few others watched the movie spell-bound, with the occasional sounds of ‘Chey, Chey and Aiyyoo, Paapa’ - with a lot of reverence and disbelief of the happenings on the big screen.?

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder.?It was Charu, my wife. She said -?‘Hey Balu, come on.?Let’s go. It’s getting late’.??It is only then I realised that I was lost in a world of my own, transported to a bygone era ...?

As I drove my way back to Bengaluru that evening, I was glad that I got to revisit some of my nostalgic childhood moments in Magadi.?Better now … than never.

Balu

January 21, 2023

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