The completion of my education at
Basavani School was an important stage in my life. My education career was at
crossroads at that juncture. I knew that my bother was particular that I went
to a High School which had English medium classes. At that time only Schools in
Shimoga had one section exclusively for English medium. It was a privilege to
get admission to this section. My brother had another motive. He wanted me to
be a ‘city boy’ who could not only
speak English, but also speak Kannada in ‘city
style’. But it was not going to be easy. Our family resources could not
afford us even to pay the school fee. The payment of my establishment expenses
was simply beyond our capacity.
When the results were published,
my brother sent me to Hokkalike with instructions to collect my TC and marks card
as early as possible and get back. As expected I had secured very high marks in
the examination. But unfortunately the HM had received transfer orders and was
on leave at that time. So the issue of TC was delayed. My brother sent me a SOS
through my other brother asking me to come back urgently with the documents.
Ultimately Giriyappa himself signed my documents and handed over them to me
with best wishes.
I reached Koppa in a hurry. There
my brother was waiting for me anxiously with his close friend Krishna Rao.They
went through my marks card and were quite pleased to see my performance. But
the situation appeared to be grave! I was told that all the seats in Shimoga
schools had been filled up. Even the seats at Koppa High School Engineering Colleges
My brother ordered me a masala
dosa in the bus stand hotel. That was the first time I was eating a masala dosa
after my trip to Chickmagalore many years back. I was relishing the same when I
heard the bus agent shouting that Shimoga bus had arrived! My heart started
beating fast and I began eating the dosa in a hurry. I was fully tensed up. The
fact that I was proceeding to Shimoga direct without seeing my parents at home
added to my anxiety. My brother told me to cool down and eat comfortably! He
told me that there was another bus to Shimoga which would come in half an hour.
That made me relax a bit.
The next bus arrived in time.
This bus called CKMS was to pass through Thirthahalli on a good asphalted road throughout
(The bus via N R Pura had to pass through an unasphalted road). Besides, it was
the prestigious Leyland bus as against the normal Benz busses of Shankar
Transport which had a virtual monopoly in our area. I had seen this bus earlier
in Koppa bus stand and always had the fascination to travel in it one day. That
opportunity had arrived now! This bus had another speciality. It had a driver
who when he got down in Koppa bus stand, looked like a Gulliver among the
Liliputs! I had not seen such a giant of a personality anywhere else.
We the three of us left Koppa on
this bus driven by the Gulliver. It was my first trip to Shimoga. For all of us
in Malnad this city was the centre of attraction in view of it being known as
arecanut trading centre. I had lot of things going on in my mind about the city
where I was going to live. We reached Shimoga by 9 PM in the night. We had our meals in a hotel and
straightaway proceeded to the house of one Arunachalam in Durgigudi extension.
He was a teacher in the National
Middle school National High School
When I woke up on the next
morning I found about ten boys from Malnad staying there. Arunachalam’s wife
Rajamma was a beautiful lady and a busy housewife. The couple had two sons and
one daughter. The first son was studying for diploma in Bhadravathi. The second
by name Mohandas was my classmate. The daughter was studying in SSLC. I found
the other boys brushing their teeth and queuing up for taking bath. It was the
first time I was seeing anybody using tooth paste and brush to clean their
teeth! We at home were accustomed to using the ash made out of burnt rice bran
for cleaning our teeth. You could say that the same was at zero cost. Spending
money for the same appeared to be strange and unnecessary! I was also new to
the concept of having a separate set of soap and towel for one individual. The
first thing my brother did was to purchase these items for me in the morning. I
should say that my entry into the City life started with this purchase! But I
had quite a tough time in learning the art of brushing the teeth as I was a
late entrant to this business!
I was expecting the teacher to
call us for the breakfast once we were through our morning ablutions. But there
was no sign of the same. Instead we were called for our meals straightaway at 9 AM . Then only I came to know that
there was no morning breakfast system. You can imagine my despair! I was
accustomed to eating half a dozen dosas every morning at home and later at my
sister’s house! So this was going to be my fate in the City! I had to break my
fast by eating my meals instead of the so nice a thing called Tiffin ! I could see how busy the couple
Arunachalam was in the morning. They had to prepare and serve food for almost
fifteen persons by 9 AM
after ensuring that each one had finished his morning ablutions including hot
water bath. The continuous heating of water in the bath room itself was a major
challenge. And the teacher ensured it personally by replenishing the paddy husk
continuously in the oven.
Along with other boys and my
brother we went to the National High School which was at a walking distance
from the house. My admission process went on smoothly. We were told that the
test for the English medium would be conducted on the next day. I had another
three classmates in the teacher’s house hailing from Malnad. All of us
including teacher’s son Mohandas appeared for the test. Except for one boy by
name Ganesh all of us got selected. My brother’s one greatest ambition in life
had been fulfilled! But the more challenging part of meeting the cost of my
stay remained.
Quite unknown to me my brother
had planned for a free establishment facility for me at Shimoga. There was a
hostel for Brahmin students in Shimoga. It had set aside certain free seats for
the poor and meritorious students of our region. The hostel used to collect
donations from rich personalities. My brother was aware that certain big landlords
from our Malnad had given their donations. The idea was to use their influence
to get me a seat. One requisite for admission was that the boy should have had
his Upanayanam. I could understand why my brother had desperately managed to get
me that eligibility in a hurry! But there was another major hitch. The hostel
had the main aim of getting the boys admitted to the college after their SSLC.
Hence hardly any free seat was being offered to the High school students. The
idea was High School facility was available in Taluk centers and there was no
necessity to come all the way to Shimoga! Naturally the hostel management could
not appreciate my brother’s ambition to put me in English medium.
My brother had a classmate by
name Talavane Srinivas. He hailed from a super rich family from our Malnad. He
was an exceptionally brilliant student. He was the first boy from Malnad to
secure rank in his B.Sc. His example was being quoted by all the families while
asking their sons to perform well in studies. He had since finished his M.Sc.
and was doing research in IARI (Indian Agriculture Research Institute) at New Delhi for his PhD. He
had earlier studied in Shimoga
National High
School
We met him in a hotel room. I
found him a handsome young man very eager to help the brother of his classmate.
He was impressed with my marks. He took me personally to one Dattatreya Sastry
who was a member of the hostel managing Committee. The Sastry family owned a big
Arecanut Mandi in addition to being very big landlords. The Talavane family of
Srinivas was sending major portion of their arecanut produce to this Mandi.
Hence they were a prestigious Client for them. Besides Srinivas was personally
known to them as a brilliant student from Malnad. We were assured by Sastry
that he would put in a word for me in the Managing Committee meeting.
My brother had brought two
letters from highly respected personalities from our place recommending my case
to the hostel authorities. The same were handed over to the hostel Manager as
annexure to my application for free seat. In view of my merit coupled with low
income and recommendations it appeared that a seat for me was guaranteed. All
the other boys who were staying with me at the teacher’s house had also applied
for the hostel seat. They included two younger brothers of Srinivas studying in
National High School
My brother had to make some more
purchases for me including one steal trunk to keep my belongings. For the first
time in my life I was to handle my affairs independently including money
matters. I was handed over some petty cash and was asked to maintain an account
of my expenditures in a small notebook. Having arranged everything for me
brother was to leave for home along with Krishna Rao who was with him throughout
and involved himself fully in the venture. Both of them were staying in a Hotel
called Meenakshi Bhavan. On the night before their departure day, I felt
miserably home sick. My brother could
see it from my expressions! He asked me to stay in their room for the night and
asked for an extra bed. We went for a late night Hindi movie in the nearby
Modern Talkies. That was the first Hindi movie for me. To my ill luck it was a
tragedy with the famous tragedy queen Meenakumari
as the heroine. The film simply added to the gloom for me!
The morning saw me bidding
farewell to my brother and his friend. I returned to the house of Arunachalam
in a melancholy mood. For the first time in my life I had moved out of my easy
going village life. Actually when I was staying with my sister it had made me
no difference. The lifestyle was the same as at my home. Besides, there was the
comfort and security of my sisters’ presence. Here in the City I missed them very
badly. I had to live in a strange place with so many boys who were quite
unknown to me. I really felt like weeping! Actually I was in good company.
Besides, the Arunachalam couple was quite considerate and kind in dealing with
me. But for the first time in my life I felt detached from my Malnad village
life to which I was so dearly attached!
Truly my life journey was at cross roads! I never could return to my
original Malnad village life from then on till today!
----- (To be continued) -----
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