Once, not very long ago (1) - the tales of Peddodu (Big Man) and Chinnodu (Small Man)

Once, not very long ago, somewhere in Andhra Pradesh, two friends, Peddodu (Big Man) and Chinnodu (Small Man) were sitting at a small roadside tea-shop. It was their way of life, to meet up early in the morning and share a cup of tea and contemplate the mysteries of the universe.
Peddodu was suddenly reminded of an event from his childhood and laughed as he thought back to it. Chinnodu noticed his happiness and mirth and asked about it. Peddodu kept chuckling to himself and could not stop long enough to reply or explain. So Chinnodu asked for another cup of tea to wait it out.
Eventually Peddodu calmed down. He said, "Do you remember, in our childhood, our small village school teacher had taken us to the great temple in the town? I had climbed up the temple door, and before anyone had realised, I had got to the top."
Chinnodu was surprised. He did not remember any such event. So, he asked the inevitable, "No. I do not remember. What happened after you climbed up the temple door?"
Peddodu replied, "Everyone had got angry and they started screaming. I panicked and fell abruptly and landed on the banana seller's cart."
Chinnodu was absolutely surprised. He would have remembered such a drastic event from childhood. He asked again, "Abba abba... Ore Entraa (oye what man...) You must have fallen from a great height. Hope you were not seriously injured or something. I hope you were not killed due to the bad fall!!!"
Peddodu was nonplussed. He just nodded in the mysteriously great Indian manner in the negative and said, "Ledu raa, (No man) it happened long ago in our childhood. I do not remember the exact details. I am not sure if I actually died due to the fall or not. One cannot remember all the details, na."

No comments:

Post a Comment