The legend of Kodanda

The legend of Kodanda

December 1991, Chittoor (A.P.) 13:30 hrs.
I had moved to Chennai by then. I used to visit Chittoor often. Often as in once in ten days. I used to count minutes before I made a trip. I hated Chennai and the loneliness that it spelt to me. I was also broken-hearted at that time. The girl simply wouldn�t budge; so there I was with a sad smile, heart in pieces, and head hung low� making trips to Chittoor just because I had to see her and also to hang out with my friends. It�s another story that my sympathy-collection tactics never worked. I was so foolish and had little clue about it.
However, I found solace in hanging out with my gang: CK, Vijay, Gnana, Ravi and� Kodanda. The first time I met Kodanda he made a big impression on me. He was fixing boilers in huge dairy plants. He ran an electronics shop in Greamspet. He always paid for our beer and the MSD hotel's �kushka� (biriyani without meat, eaten with mint chutney and onions). Though he didn�t chew �mawa� (a mixture of beetle nuts and flavored tobacco), he bought tons of it for us. And yea, he thought he had a great sense of humor.

On the aforementioned day and time (I always wanted to use this term �aforementioned� so please adjust) I was in Vijay�s home in the Co-operative Dairy Quarters. Kodanda�s home was some four houses away (his father worked in the dairy too). Vijay�s mom asked him to go get some clothes pressed. So he packed the clothes in a duffel bag and we set off towards the dhobi shop. We would have hardly taken a few steps and Kodanda sprang in front of us from no where. He was wearing �Roy-Ban� sunglasses and was carrying a haversack. His t-shirt was tucked into his jeans. It appeared that he had spent considerable amount of time at home covering up his receding hairline by pulling the hair onto the front; but the wind played spoilsport and his hair �whatever little he had on his head that is- stood at 90 degrees to the scalp and gave him a grizzly look.
�Where you guys going?� He enquired.
Vijay and I exchanged glances and Vijay said,
�We are going to Ooty.�
I thought Kodanda would get the sarcasm. I mean Vijay had a bag full of clothes and he was clad in shorts and chappals. There was a pause. The wind got excited with Kodanda�s hair and now the hair started moving in a zigzag fashion.
�Mother promise?� He asked.
�Yes� Vijay said (he defended later by saying �I didn�t specify whose mother!�)
�I�ll also go machaan?� Kodanda pleaded.
Before Vijay could respond I took over and said,
�You got shoes Kodanda? What about winter wear? It�s awfully cold up there in Ooty� how much money you got on you? We have only three bottles of rum; can you get us more?�
Kodanda pounced upon the chance and said,
�Yea, yea yea I got all that and I will get two more bottle of rum. Hercules would do?�
Vijay was staring at me and Kodanda. He was obviously confused.
�Ok, Kodanda, why don�t you land up near the Menaka lodge junction? Our van will wait for us there� four o clock this afternoon on the dot. If you are late, you miss the trip. Simple.� I said.
That left Kodanda in deep thought. After what seemed like ages during which Vijay and I were trying hard to suppress our laughter, Kodanda said,
�Machaan, I am going for a service request to Palamaner� if I am late I�ll take a bus and join you straight in Ooty�?�
I had a lump in my throat when I said,
�Yea that�s fine. Get to Ooty and head straight to Hotel Charing Cross and ask for Mr.Shimjeet. He is the one that is arranging our stay there.�
Vijay had tears in his eyes by now.
Kodanda laughed out loud and said,
�So, there! That�s settled� I don�t care if I miss your van, I will take a bus and for all that you know I�ll be in Ooty before you guys! Ha ha!�
Realizing that Vijay could no more handle his laughter I said,
�Ok we got lots of work why don�t you run along and try and meet us at Menaka?�
And Kodanda scooted with a spring in his step.
Vijay and I fell on the ground laughing. We caught Gnana who was playing cards with his buddies in Valliappa Nagar and told him the story.
At around 1500 hours Vijay, Gnana and I were walking towards CK�s home when an auto screaming in full speed screeched to a halt next to us. Murugesh, Kodanda�s brother popped his head out and yelled,
�Hey count me in ok? I�ll try and make it but I don�t think I can,� and was gone, leaving the three of us on the ground. Again. Rolling with laughter. We forgot about the whole thing after an hour. I mean Kodanda never made it to any of our planned trips; he always had some excuse or the other, and he was too lazy to actually travel all alone to Ooty. We knew it for a fact.

At four that afternoon all the gang members met up in CK�s home and we all went to NGO home. Ravi played some chess and we headed for a movie in Lakshmi Talkies.
30 minutes into the movie, Gnana who was sitting next to me nudged me and whispered,
�What if he goes to Ooty?�
I said, �Impossible. Not him.�
But I had a churning sensation in my belly. �What if��

The next morning I was the first one to arrive at our hang out: Tea-shop outside Vijay Mahal run by our friend Kulla Ravi (not Chess Ravi). Every one but Kodanda turned up. I started panicking. Two more hours and still no sign of him. Later, Vijay told me that Kodanda had called from Palamaner and told his folks that he�d be staying in Palamaner for two more days as there were some serious problems with the boiler there. And even Murugesh, his brother confirmed it in the evening. I heaved a sigh of relief.

After two days I arrived at the tea-shop quite early; around seven o clock in the morning. We had a cricket match that day. The place was empty but for the guy with an unkempt beard and bloodshot eyes. He looked a bum to me so I paid no attention to him. I ordered a tea and lit a smoke. I let the sun fall on my face. I needed the warmth; it was cold. I felt a pair of eyes boring through my back. I turned around to find the bum staring at me. The tea-shop was dark inside; so I couldn�t clearly make out that guy. But I knew he was staring at me. Once in a while he rubbed his palms together, as if he was feeling very cold. But he kept staring at me right through. I ignored him. Gnana and Vijay arrived after a few minutes. They ordered tea and lit up smokes. And I noticed that that bum was on his feet. He emerged from the corner in which he was sitting; the sun fell on his face. I was shocked out of my wits. I stood up slowly. My mouth was open. Kodanda screamed at us �Are you guys humans or some kind of animals?� I was wondering why Kodanda was in the disguise of a bum. Before we could say anything, he just walked off. He never spoke to me again ever.

I learnt later that he had actually reached Chittoor quite early. He had gone to CK�s place around five O clock in the evening and met CK�s dad.
�Uncle where are these guys?� He had asked CK�s dad.
�I don�t know, the entire gang went towards the town�� uncle had said.
�Come on uncle I know that you know where they are headed hee hee� Kodanda had said.
�What do you mean?� uncle was irritated.
�They went to Ooty, no?� Kodanda had asked.
�Ooty!? In December? I don�t think so; it is so damn cold there� you�d freeze to death! No way.� Uncle had said.
�No uncle they put mother promise!� Kodanda had said.

No one knows the rest of the story. Each one of us has our own version. So I leave the rest to your imagination. And funny as it may sound; all the versions seem to retain the same core. You know what I mean? ;-)
(Next Part: 'The Curse of Kodanda' Coming soon!)
Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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