Once, not very long ago (5) - Tales of Peddodu and Chinnodu

Once, not very long ago, somewhere in Andhra Pradesh, two friends, Peddodu (Big Man) and Chinnodu (Small Man) were sitting in their house, totally irritated because the electrical supply was disconnected to their neighbourhood. Their entire mofussil region was disconnected and without electricity for the past six hours in the night. This was Rayalaseema, the most sultry place in India, and as one would know, if you have been there, you cannot make it if you do not have even a fan at night.

Peddodu and Chinnodu could not sleep. They kept moving about, going out and walking up and down the street, and getting back in, hunting for that elusive waft of pleasant air. The villagers were also similarly moving around. The local shops had run out of candles, matchboxes, wick lamps and kerosene. People were trying to sit together at various locations and wave newspapers to get some cooler air. The kerosene lamps were all reserved for the children of the village to study.

Peddodu had saved this big candle for such an emergency. He decided to light it up in the inner room so that he would not have to share it with others. Dressed only in a lungi, he sat at the small rickety table, with the lighted candle, staring at it in frustration. Now that he had the lighted up candle, he wondered about what he could do with that meagre light. The candle did not provide pleasant air, instead it seemed to suffocate him, gradually, minute by minute, in that small inner room that had absolutely no ventilation.

Chinnodu came up and watched him getting angrier and angrier. He wondered about the need for wasting the only candle that they had. It could be used to help cook or make tea or other important tasks. Peddodu's mind had stopped functioning effectively with the smoke of the candle. Irritatedly, he said, "Re Chinnodu, what is the use of your standing there, just watching this candle. Why don't you do something useful?"

Chinnodu replied, "What do you want me to do? There is no light. None of the bulbs or tubelights will work." Peddodu got angrier, and frustrated, and replied, "Why don't you switch on the ceiling fan then?"

Chinnodu replied, "Arre, Anna (Brother), I am not an idiot. If I switch on the ceiling fan, will it not extinguish the only candle that we have? We cannot keep on wasting matches in such times."

From the series - Tales of Peddodu and Chinnodu (4)

From the series - Tales of Peddodu and Chinnodu (4)

Stuff happens differently in Andhra Pradesh. Peddodu (Big Man) argued with Chinnodu (Small Man) and said, "I have a bungalow, Mercedes, factory and lots of money. What do you have?"

Chinnodu replied, "So what!!! I have a 8 bedroom penthouse, 4 ferraris and I have stopped counting my factories and money."

Peddodu was thoughtful and after a while, exclaimed, "Re Chinnodu, if you and me have so much of money and stuff, who has our mother?"

Once, not very long ago (3) - 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 near Nagaswami Military Mess, waiting for the famous non-veg dinner place to open for the night. It was part of their daily schedule, to come to the Military Mess and have the 'unlimited mutton-chicken rice plate'.

There were many other regulars waiting it out along with them. They were all sitting in small groups, talking about the various events of the day. Some were discussing the approaching elections and some were discussing the new movie with the 73+ year old hero with the 19- year old heroine.

Peddodu and Chinnodu were sitting all by themselves. All other groups of diners avoided them very carefully. They had suffered the mistake of chatting with them before dinner and had been severely traumatised. The two friends had never noticed that the others avoided them.

A stranger came up to the entrance of the Military Mess, wanting to get in. The street vendor selling bananas nearby told the stranger to wait for the dining place to open up. Looking at all the various groups of waiting diners, the stranger took the only option that he thought was logical. He came to sit alongside Peddodu and Chinnodu.

The two friends looked at him intently. He had a briefcase and a haversack. So he was probably a traveler, they guessed silently, nodding at each other. His clothes were like that of a person from a big city. He was also carrying something strange with him. They had never seen anything like that before.

So, they asked him. Peddodu questioned, "what is this strange thing that you are carrying with you? It's seems to be made of metal and looks like a container of some sort. Why do you have it? Do city people always carry this with them?"

The stranger laughed at the question and answered, "Oh! This is a thermos flask. I need it in my travels. The outer body is made of steel but the inner body is made of a special glass. It keeps hot liquids as hot as they can be. And it keeps cold liquids as chilled as they can be."

Chinnodu exclaimed in surprise and asked, "It can carry hot and cold liquids? And keep them hot and cold? That is absolutely amazing. Whatever will the city people come up with next? Where did you get it? What are you carrying in it now?"

The stranger replied with a smile, "Not at all. This is not a strange machine. This is quite common. You can get a thermos flask in your nearest town or the big railway station too. I keep cold filtered drinking water because I like it that way. I cannot drink warm or unfiltered water."

Peddodu and Chinnodu were busy for the next fifteen minutes, in a serious discussion with the stranger about the benefits of the thermos flask. Peddodu wanted to get one to be able to drink hot coffee thru the day. But, as Chinnodu explained to the stranger, he wanted to get a flask to drink chilled water thru the day.

The stranger smiled at them, looked around at the other groups of diners watching him with obvious pity and slowly moved away from the two friends. They did not object at all. They were busy discussing the various options in loud voices.

The Nagaswami Military Mess opened up for dinne soon. All those waiting rushed in to get to their usual tables. And, of course, the stranger got the only vacant seat available at the same table with Peddodu and Chinnodu. In so doing, he placed his thermos flask on the table, in open view.

Peddodu pointed at the flask and said, "Re Chinnodu, see that flask. I have an idea. This Nagaswami never serves its good fish from the sea. He always has very thin fish from the rivers. Let us buy a big thermos flask and go to Nellore and get good sea fish. We can fill up the flask with sea water and the fish will think that they are in sea water."

Chinnodu replied, "No. No. I want to only use the thermos flask to take tea and coffee. I think the sea fish will not be a good idea. Will they stay alive inside the thermos flask? Let us ask our new friend. He knows all about it."

Nodding in agreement, Peddodu said, "No. Not necessary. City people cannot always be smarter. We are better, much better. This is what we will do. We will get a much bigger thermos flask. We will use it to fill up with cold and hot stuff. It will keep the cold stuff cold and the hot stuff hot. That way, we do not have to buy two flasks."

Once, not very long ago (2) - 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 on a stone bench of the platform in the local railway station. The two friends found it very blissful to sit here, with no work, with nothing to do, under the more than hundred-year old banyan tree, and watch all the express trains go by without stopping.

Around mid-morning however, there was the Kurnool Passenger that stopped here for about twenty minutes. The silent and vacant railway station was then transformed to a very noisy and busy market-place sort of location.

The Kurnool Passenger was late today, by about an hour. The hawkers, vendors, porters and taxi drivers had already assembled and were waiting. Everyone knew each other, as they were all from the same village. They were all here with a purpose -- to sell, supply or provide something to the passengers. Peddodu and Chinnodu were the only two persons on the railway platform without any purpose or work.

The two friends passed the hour, waiting for the delayed train, as though they were passengers themselves. They had tea, idli-vada chutney, coconut water and curd rice. In time, the Kurnool Passenger came in and the peaceful railway platform burst into extreme activity.

Peddodu and Chinnodu watched all the hustle-bustle and were at peace, in the noise and shouting and running around. It was like watching a movie. They were like undisturbed outsiders watching the scenes go by.

Suddenly, a passenger came running up to the two friends, with his baggage, looking very distraught and hassled. He said, "Ayya (Sir), you both look like you are from this place. I need your help. I think I got on to the wrong train. I have to send a telegram from the station master's office. Can you please watch my luggage for me? I will send the telegram and get back to pick it up."

Chinnodu nodded in agreement and pointed out the way to the station master's office. He asked, "what will you send the telegram about? Do you want them to stop a coming express train here?"

The passenger nodded impatiently, as though in agreement and rushed away to the station master's office. Peddodu was excited at this sudden development and spoke to Chinnodu, "Entraa (What, man), did you realise that finally we have some mission when we sit here at the railway platform. We can also start sending telegrams to stop all express trains at our place."

Chinnodu nodded in agreement, and said, "Avunu, avunu (yes, yes), we can do that. If all express trains stop here daily, they may begin to think that this is a regular stop. With this idea, our village will soon become a big city like Mumbai or Delhi."

Thus, very soon, Peddodu and Chinnodu became busy planning the growth of their village, with larger railway stations, new highways, 5-star hotels and airports. The passenger returned from sending the telegram and collected his luggage to get back on the train.

Peddodu greeted him, and told him, "Anna (Brother), we are grateful to you. Our village will soon get an airport here because you got on the wrong train. Thank you."

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."