Chapter 16: chapter 16

12Whenever I asked Ranganna, “Why couldn’t I see you for so long… where have you gone all these days?”, he had a stock answer: “I was in the Monda Market- a buffalo herding with other buffalos there. If there is one number missing in the Monda Market buffaloes, that means that Rangannna is out of station!” In no way did Ranganna resemble a buffalo. He was very lean and there were wrinkles that cut deep on his face. The veins almost protruded out in his hands and legs. He wore a vesti around his waist in exactly the same style as the popular mass hero M.G.R wore in his film, Urimaikkural. He usually wore a colour shirt. It was always dirty. He was not an attractive figure at all. There were bits of food particles hanging from the edges of his mouth, as though he was always munching something… some vegetable or some puffed grains such as corn or ground nuts. That he was always munching something was reason enough for him to compare himself to a buffalo. Ranganna worked in the Monda Market. He did sundry jobs like lifting sacks of vegetables from carts or lorries. Sometimes he acted as a cashier if somebody asked him. On other occasions, one could see him sleeping with his mouth agape on the platform of some shop.I had seen him sometimes in Menon’s book shop or walking on the pavement of the Parade Grounds in the evenings.Tamil magazines were available in Menon’s shop. It was a shop where Tamil delicacies like pickles and appalams were available according to the changing seasons. Tamils came there in large numbers to buy Tamil magazines eagerly as though they had found out the lost remnants of the Tamil Culture. During the Ayappa season all things that were necessary to undertake a pilgrimage to Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Iyappa, were available in Menon’s shop. Deepavali special numbers of magazines and astrological magazines featuring a number of horoscopes and carrying match making features were available in his shop. They sold like hot cakes.Remembering that I had seen him in Menon’s shop, I asked Ranganna what Tamil magazines he used to read. He said that he could neither speak nor write Tamil. He asked me whether I could teach him Tamil. He also told me he would browse Tamil journals here and there with the little Telugu he knew. I asked what he thought about Tamil magazines. He said that Telugu magazines were printed in low quality brown paper and were not attractive. He opined that Tamil magazines were printed in high quality white paper and were eye-catching. “As they are printed in high quality paper they could be rolled and carried in one’s hands easily. Telugu magazines, on the other hand, are very lengthy… one could not carry them with ease. Is there any Tamil magazine like the Vibula in Telugu? Its size is very small like your Tamil weeklies. For how many years it’s coming out! It publishes stories from all Indian languages. Every month it publishes a Tamil story too! But I don’t read them. But I read with some interest the writings of one Rajaram,” he said. I said, “You mean Rajaram, the Tamil writer? He has written some articles about computers. You mean Ko. Rajaram but I don’t think he has written stories!”“I don’t mean Rajaram the Tamil writer. I mean Rajaram, the Telugu writer. He is known as Mathuranthagam Rajaram. I like his stories very much,” he replied.I had read the writings of some Telugu writers in translation. There was no friend to guide me properly. In the Ashok Nagar library there was a glass rack with Tamil books. They were dusty. I had found the Tamil translations of some Telugu works in it. In the Osmania University Library also there were some Tamil books. Once, when I called on Varavara Rao, I saw the Sundaraiya Library there. There I found some Tamil books on Marxism. There were no other Tamil magazines by popular publishers except those I found in Menon’s shop which sold like hotcakes. In the pavement book stall opposite to the Secunderabad Railway Station there were plenty of Tamil weeklies. I used to put in that shop some literary magazines started by my friends for sale. I used to go to that shop to give the copies of the magazine Ingae Inru run by Tamizhavan, Shanmuga Sundaram and Ayyanar. The owner of that pavement shop once chided me: “My friend! Nobody buys these books! Why do you bring them? Bala Jothitam, a magazine on astrology alone sells thirty copies. There is no agent here for that magazine. Its copies are not available easily. Why don’t you take up its agency?”“Ranganna, Mathuranthagam is the name of a place in Tamil Nadu. Does he belong to that place? Is he from Tamil Nadu”“I don’t know, brother. I know only his stories. I search for his stories and read them. It’s because he had written about me!”“If he has written about you, then he must have known you. Is it a story or an essay?”“Nothing like that. In one of his stories there is a character named Ranganna. His life and mine are almost similar. That’s why I used to think that Rajaram has written about me. You see, he has immortalized me!” His voice was almost choking! It seemed that he was very much happy that he had become a permanent literary character.“What’s the title of the story?”“I don’t remember those details. It’s a very short story. Ranganna devoted himself to serve others. I too work for others in the Monda market. That Ranganna is from a village. I am also from a village. Certain incidents described in that story have happened in my life too! Ranganna was friendly with snakes. He brought life back to many people bitten by snakes. Once, he jumped into a deep well, without caring for his life, to get back the ring of his owner that had been slipped into the well accidentally. Always caring for others, he never cared to feed himself. He also helped many with folk medicine. The name of his owner in this story is Narasappa. My father’s name is also Narasappa. There is an inexplicable affinity between that Ranganna and me, perhaps because of this, I think!” he said.One evening I saw Rangannna on the pavement of the Parade Grounds. The grass field was thick, exposing the large ground. The long compound wall appeared like its fence. The Cantonment Garden Park looked like a small garden. That was where my friends and I met to conduct ‘literary meetings’ under the auspices of Kanavu every month. The tall building of the Lamba Cinema Hall rose above all other structures. One could see people coming in large numbers. The bustle of the speeding vehicles in the evenings showed that the city was growing.“Rangannna… evening walk?”“You could take it as you like! The Ranganna in the novel by Mathuranthagam Rajaram was also walking like this when agriculture has failed him. Have you read that story?”The fact that I did not know Telugu and my lack of interest in learning it troubled me. I thought that I should give it to somebody to have it translated so that I could read it.“I haven’t read that story, Ranganna! If you have a copy, please give it to me. I’ll get it translated!”“I don’t have a copy! The story had gone deep into my heart. Rangannna, in his old age, would be walking like this along the edge of the road. One day, travelling in a new car he has just bought, his owner suddenly sees Ranganna, through the glass window of his car, walking in the street,. He thinks ‘How much this fellow has suffered, how much he has worked for our family! It’s very hot! He doesn’t even wear chappals. He may not have enough money to take a bus. The way he walks tells me that he had not had food for many days. He has saved nothing. He could not give his children even minimum education. To satisfy Ranganna I need not do anything but stopping my car now and giving him a lift!’ He thinks about asking his driver to stop the car. But by the time he can make a decision, the car has already gone ten miles, away from Rangannna! The story ends there. Many people for whom I’ve worked hard in the Monda market have become rich now. They go in expensive cars nowadays. Many a time I have wanted that somebody would stop his car on seeing me, remembering the days I had worked for him. At the same time, I also feel that if I receive such an offer for a lift, I should say, standing upright, ‘I don’t need your help! I can walk!’ Is Monda Market very distant from this place?” Ranganna asked!