Nandyal: A Peek Into The Past (1)

(KC Kalkura)

Marmagoa Harbour -Machilipatnam passenger train, with a steam engine carrying me, arrived at Nandyal Railway Station on a sunny afternoon, in March 1958, just a few days after Shivratri. After landing at the Station, lack of knowledge of Telugu was very costly. For the usual charge of 2 annas ( 12 paise), I had to shell down 12 annas ( 75 paise). I joined as a supplier for a salary of Rs.30/ p.m in Udupi Coffee Bar, Chouk Bazaar, Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan, and Udupi Sudha Hotel, Bus stand. They were managed by my cousins Ananthakrishnaachar and Gangadharachar. My elder brothers Hari Govinda Kalkura and Narasimha Kalkura were already there as managers and cashiers respectively.  I picked up Telugu very fast and within 3-4 months, I could read Telugu newspapers.  Fellow hotel workers and customers were my Telugu Teachers: Acharya Devo Bhava. (ఆచార్య దేవో భవ. आचार्य दॆवॊ भव.)

Udupi Coffee Bar was the latest restaurant in Nandyal. It was the first one to replace aluminum and brass crockeries with Steel glass tumblers.  Then within a couple of years, almost all the restaurants fell in line.

Then Coffee, Tea, Upma, and Idli were priced at  2 annas; Vada, one and a half annas, Masala Dosa and poori, two and a half annas; Sweet 3 annas. Cool drinks and ice cream four annas and meals 12 annas. Hundred kg bag of  fine variety  Delhi Bhogalu rice was available for Rs.45-;   Fifteen Kg Tungabhadra Industries, Kurnool, refined oil tin for Rs.28/-; all dals at around Rs.40/-.; in sum, one cart load of raw material for about Rs.1,000/-. Incomparable and looks really imaginary or concocted. Many bigwigs who used to visit the restaurant used to affectionately call me: “Chinna Govindu ”; my brother Pedda Govindu. Other leading restaurants were Meenakshi Bhavan, Modern Café, Gopalakrishna Bhavan, Komala Vilas, Srikrishna Bhavan, Sudha/Jaya café, and Chandra Bhavan, and Andhra Café; earlier Gandhi Bhavan. After Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, the Government of India issued a circular banning the commercial establishments using his name.  The name was changed to “Andhra Café”.

Restaurants were the meeting grounds for politicians, traders, and officers. Jocular and sarcastic comments: “Meetings of the Municipal Council are held in Meenakshi Bhavan/Modern Café/Udupi Coffee Bar and the Members sign the minutes in the Council Hall”.   There was only one lodging house on Byrmal Street near the Bus stand. It was a lodge with a common bath and toilet and congested rooms. Firewood was the fuel till 1958. Udupi Coffee Bar started an oven using abundantly available cheap rice husk; renewable energy. One Munaiaha from Kadapa was specially summoned to prepare it. Within a year all restaurants erected husk ovens. Water and neem sticks used to be supplied to the customers in the early hours. Open maidan behind the bus stand was the open latrine. More about the hotels and restaurants will be dealt with in a separate chapter.

The Nandyal town is situated on the left, eastern bank of the Kundu, a perennial River, a tributary of the Penna River. Originating as a spring the village of Uppalapadu in Orvakal Mandal of Kurnool District goes through many changes and flows to a length of about 100 km before merging with the Penna at Kamalapuram of YSR Kadapa District. It is known for frequent floods that bring heavy damage to the Nandyal and Koilkuntla areas, and hence it is generally called the “Sorrow of Nandyal.”

But nowadays Nandyal became a big town with a huge population so the drainage water is discharged to the Kundu River without prior treatment. The villagers who are living downstream of the river from Nandyal are suffering from different skin diseases. The pollution impacts even animals’ health too. In ancient times this river was known as the Kumudvathi. There is a saying in Rayalaseema that whoever drinks the water of the Kundu will gain enormous courage to face enemies. The valley of the Kundu is known as Renadu and is symbolic of the term “Renati Pourusham.”

For centuries, Nandyal, on the foothills of the Nallamala Hills has been an enlightened town.  The feudatory ruler under the Vijayanagara attended the coronation of Srikrishnadevaraya in 1509. Pingali Surana, one of the Asthadiggajas of the Srikrishnadevaraya’s Court and a trendsetter in Telugu literature lived in Kanala, near Nandyal.  He dedicated his Magnum Opus Kalapurnodyama to the Nandyal King, Krishnama Raju, Raghava Pandveeyam to Akuveedu Prabhu, Pedda Venkatarayulu and Prabhavati Pradyumnam to his father Amarana. It was at the forefront of the freedom struggle. Kypa Subrahmanya Sarma, Rayasam Seshagiri Rao, Chegireddy Balireddy, Panyam Ramachandraiah, and Nivarthi Venkatasubbaiah were the names to be reckoned with in the National Movement. Nandyal was the headquarters for Gadicharla Harisarvothama Rao, the first freedom fighter for his various political, social, economic, and literary activities.

On 17th and 18th November 1928 All Parties Andhra Political Conference was held at Don Bosco Hall, Nandyal. It was presided over by Dr. Annie Besant. Barrister O. Lakshmanaswamy Rao, Chairman, Kurnool Municipal Council was the Chairman of the Reception Committee.

It was attended by Tanguturi Prakasam, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Cuttamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Seetharamayya, Kadapa Koti Reddy, and others. In that conference, suggested by Chilukuri Narayana Rao, proposed by Gadicharla Harisarvithama Rao, and seconded by Kallur Subba Rao and others the region till then known as Ceded Districts (Bellary, Anantapur, Cuddapah, and Kurnool – BACK- Datta Mandala Zillalu) was changed as RAYALASEEMA, the Region of the Rayas (of Vijayanagara).

Various literary and cultural activities were being conducted there. Dramas depicting themes from social and epics were regularly enacted. Harikathas were a regular feature, particularly during the Dasara season. The elite of the town used to gather in the evening hours in the Victoria Reading Room, near the bus stand and play cards and indulge in intellectual discussions. All of them were our customers and known to me. Therefore, though not a member, I was permitted to read the papers in the reading room. The reading habit continues even now, at the ripe old age of 82. Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) was established in 1906. In later years the internationally famous KURNOOL SONA MASOORI by Prof M V Reddy of N.G.Ranga Agricultural University and NARASIMHA COTTON SEED by Khadarabad Ravindranath were developed in the Station. They earn huge foreign exchange.

In 1959, on nonparty basis elections were held for the Municipalities in A.P. An honest, soft-spoken, wealthy businessman, Atmakur Nagabhushanm Chetty was elected Chairman of the Nandyal Municipal Council (NMC); Medium Subbarayudu Chetty leading diamond and jewelry merchant, who himself later became the Chairman was his deputy. Khadarabad Narasingh Rao, a crusader for the upliftment of Harijan, known as Nandyal Gandhi was the first elected Chairman of the NMC from 1920 to 1934; still a record period in NMC.  A philanthropist is known for charity he donated four acres of land to the Municipal High School. He hosted all National leaders including Gandhiji, Rajaji, Prakasam, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, V V Giri,  and Pattabhi Seetharamayya. Gadicharla Harisaravothama Rao, the very first freedom fighter from Andhra Pradesh stayed with him for a long time. Kadarabad financed his multifarious activities. Kadaarabad was alive when I landed in Nandyal and I had seen him. As almost all the suppliers in the restaurants used to be Brahmins, it was customary for the customers in hotels to address the supplies as ‘Swamy’.  Once at a dinner party, Kadarabad addressed me ‘arrhe’. I got annoyed and protested.  The District Collector Narayana Chetty was a guest. He cajoled me and said, “Look, Swamy, if he addresses me ‘arrhe’ I must take it as a compliment.”

A wealthy landlord, Deshpande Subba Rao, an activist of Andhra and Rayalaseema Movements and once the President of  Andhra Mahasabha was an earlier Chairman of NMC. He was no more by the time I came to Nandyal. His son Sethumadhava Rao, an ex-chairman of NMC regularly visited Udupi Coffee Bar. Desai Kuppu Rao was an earlier Chairmen whom I knew. Padmavathamma, widowed in childhood, a rich landlady, and the indomitable Communist Leader was an opposition member for five consecutive terms in the NMC.

Nandyal: A Peek Into The Past (2)

Her performance in the Council could be compared to that of a seasoned Parliamentarian or a Legislator of national repute. She was the most feared councilor. She had sacrificed all her wealth for the cause of communism. Communist leaders of national fame used to stay in her house.

The latest luxury extension in Nandyal, Padmavathi Nagar is named after her. Sometime in June-July 1960, Damodaram Sanjeevaiah inaugurated the ESC Govt Polytechnic. He outlined the need and necessity for the intermediary technical experts, the products of Polytechnic institutions, for the effective implementation of the dreams of the Five Year Plans, the construction of Modern Temples; irrigation projects, and factories.

In 1961 he launched the Nandyal Drinking Water Supply Scheme. Pidathala Ranga Reddy, the Minister for Planning and Finance attended the function.  The earlier Chairman, Desai Kuppu Rao, who was instrumental in securing permission for the scheme from the Government of Madras and later Andhra was on the dais and was felicitated by Sanjeevaiah; a rare gesture. Athmakur Nagabhushanam Chetty was the Chairman, NMC. Sanjeevaiah used to speak very good simple idiomatic and phraseological Telugu; small sentences with the economy of words and choicest proverbs. Wit and humor were his forte.  (to be concluded)

(KC Kalkura is an advocate from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh)