The nomad from Malenadu on his annual trip to the coastal belt to earn a living

By Eugene Moodubelle
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 12 October 2010: The booming sound of a conch cell (shanka), shrill noise of a trumpet and pounding of flat metal disc with a wooden stick attracted my attention when I was working in the Bellevision Media Network office. As my curiosity about the source of these multiple sounds increased, i came out of the office and peeped out where I saw a short, lean and unshaven person in deep blue shirt, a long stripped towel tied around the head in a makeshift turban, vermilion mark on his forehead and string of wooden beads around the neck.

 

 

This nomad was carrying a trumpet in one hand and a conch cell and a metallic disc tied at two ends of a thin rope were dangling on two sides of his neck. An old sling bag was hanging from his right shoulder whereas an open mouthed metal pot, which he called ‘akshaya-patre’ tied to a string was hanging from his left shoulder. This unusual nomad was uttering some prayer-like phrases and alternatively blowing the conch-cell, trumpet and was drumming the metal disc with a thick rod in front of the shops and collecting small amount of money that was doled out to him by the shop-keepers or the curious passers-by.

 

 

As my curiosity about this nomad increased, I just asked him to enter the office and offered him a chair where he settled down arranging the various instruments that he carried in their proper place. Through my interaction with this nomad I came to know that his name is T.G. Manjudasappa hailing from Thimmana Halli of Arasikere in Hassan district. He said that he had taken ‘dheeksha’ from the Venkataramana temple in Thirumalai and has been coming to the coastal belt since the last 25 years to earn a living by going around the shops and houses uttering some prayer-like phrases such as ‘Venkataramana-Govinda-Govinda’ and blowing the instruments that he carried.

 

Manjudasappa’s foray into the coastal belt usually begins from around 24th September every year. First he visits Dharmasthala and covers the townships on the way to Karkala such as Guruvayanakere, Aladangadi, Hosmar, Naravi and Shirthadi. Thereafter, he directly proceeded to Palli where he set up his base in the Palli Panchayat office where he would retire during the night. After covering Belle and surrounding regions, he would proceed to Bailoor and Karakala and other regions before going back to his village on 18th October.

 

Festive season is being chosen by Manjudasappa as he believes that during these days people tend to be generous and for a person with a mendicant’s looks, people, especially shop-keepers do not deny a small amount of money by way of charity. During these past 25 years he has been visiting only those shops and houses which have not turned him away even once. During these days of his trip to various places, Manjudasappa earns some amount of money which he avoided to disclose and sends to his account in Arasikere through mail-transfer through banks. He showed me some bank receipts for the money that he had sent from different places.

 

 

When inquired about his family, Manjudasappa said that he owns fifty cents of land in Thimmana Halli where he lives with his family. He had three children, one son and two daughters. The son passed away under tragic circumstances when he was studying in the second year of college. One of his daughters is married and he has to get the second daughter married by next year. He proudly mentioned that he has educated his daughters up to SSLC.

 

Manjudasappa, who originally hails from Andhra Pradesh, knows Telugu and Kannada languages. It was because of his regular visits to the coastal region he has also picked up Tulu. During the month of January he visits Kerala on similar mission of earning his livelihood.

 

During my brief interaction with Manjudasappa I found him to be quite articulate and straightforward. At the end, he posed for pictures and went his own way chanting ‘Venkataramana-Govinda, Govinda....’