School Days-5 continued

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School Days-5 Continued.

Continuation of school holidays in Pesarlanka.

Another constant during Pesarlanka holidays was Basavamma (Basivi pinning as we called her). She was elder Reddiah's daughter, I think. She was married to somebody who had already had a relationship and was abondoned. She stayed in her father's house and afterwards with her brother Bhaskara Rao. In my eyes she was a very goodlooking woman and I could not imagine how anybody could abandon her. She was always there, very kindly and smiling whenever I passed through the houses on the dibba. She had a several brothers I think, I may be mistaking brothers and cousins. She moved with Bhaskara Rao to a house almost opposite to my grandfather's house when I saw her in 1970 and later. Then there was Balaiah, her brother or cousin, always sitting in front of the elder Reddiah complex with a cigar. He always had a friendly hello whenever I passed the house on the way to the farm. He studied for a few years in Gudavalli and married the daughter of another well-known headmaster Guttikonda Lakshmi Narayana, originally from Gudavalli ( See the correction in the comments). Lakshmi Narayana used to teach mathematics and I spent a couple of weeks in his house in Karmchedu supposed to be learning mathematics. His younger brother Ramanaiah was married to my mother's older sister. There was another younger brother Narahari, perhaps the only intellectual in our families.

Narahari was a radical humanist. He was in Burma for a while and ran a news paper. After he came back to India he was in politics for a while and even contested some elections. At some stage he ran tobacco business with his brother Ramanaiah and both became very rich. But then they started a cigarette factory and lost money I heard. I heard much later that Narahari lost his mind and used to wander around the streets.

Basivi pinni continued to be good looking even in her eighties. She would be still erect when she served coffees to us and died in her nineties a few years ago. I used to imagine that my mother would have looked like her had she lived longer. Around 1970, I visited Pesarlanka with a couple of young British friends. We had to wade through mud and ate in Bhaskara Rao's new house fed by Basivi pinni. I think the villagers were fascinated by the foreigners and Sheila got lot of sarees as presents. I continued to visit Basivi pinni whenever I went to Pesarlanka and once in Guntur. Her face and fate still haunt me.