Suman Kumar's Blog, page 2

Dichha

Ranga hates himself because he is scared of fights. He is always fantasising about winning a fist-fight with his ‘enemy’ Joel.

There was this inexplicable fear that gripped him when fights happened.

Ranga found it hard to believe that getting paralyzed by fear when faced with a fist fight was a result of his genes. That’s what every one said though, ‘you Brahmins are good at studies because you can’t fight wars.’ And, they also spun stories about how wily brahmins were the reason why meat prices went up.

Which is why he idolises Prasad, a rowdy. Especially because Prasad is a world-class exponent of the art of Dichha. Say what? Yeah. That brings us to the story of what a Dichha is all about. I got it folks. I wrote about it long back. Give it a read:

Anif’s head arched only to strike forth and bang! Anif’s forehead smashed Bhaskar’s nose. In a blink of an eye, Bhaskar was lying on the ground, his face all bloody. Anif waited for him to get up but Bhaskar looked like he was settling down on the ground so much so that I wanted to say ‘Good night Bhaskar!’ [continue reading]

The Legend of Raghava Reddy

Raghava Reddy, a fictitious character, is an old farmer in Ranga Half-Pants. I sketched Reddy’s character based on all the farmers of Chittoor that I had encountered. They used to chase us out; whether we were swimming in their irrigation wells or stealing mangoes from their orchards.

Before Ranga Half-Pants, Raghava Reddy appeared in one of my stories on my personal blog.

Raghava Reddy was an ancient man. Some said he was 60. Some said 80. But from when I knew him, I was 14, he had been the same: lanky, dark man with a 100,000 wrinkles. I don’t think he even changed his clothes in all those years: he was always clad in a white dhoti and a white baniyan. The dhoti was always wrapped up and knotted way above his knees, exposing his underwear: the world famous Patta-patti (now known as ‘Bermudas’) [Continue reading]

Say Hello To Turtle Hill

This is the first of a series of posts where I try and get you acquainted with Chittoor, the town where Ranga Half-pants is set in. I only borrowed settings from the town. I took the creative liberty of changing names of places. Only a few characters from Ranga Half-Pants are inspired by people I know. The character Gaja is based on one of my best friends Umapathy from Greamspet. Other than that most of the characters are fictitious.

I digress. Here, say hello to one of my favourite places in all of Chittoor. Thaabelu Konda (Turtle Hill.) My friends and I have spent innumerable holidays in and around these hills.

When in high school, we used to trek to the top of the ‘neck’ of the Turtle at least thrice a week. We did find some wildlife there; Monitor Lizards, Rabbits and a variety of snakes. No, not on the top but in and around the hill.

Half Pants Blues

While writing the book I had an idea: what if I wrote a song for Ranga and his blues. I spoke to quite a few musician friends but decided to collaborate with… you know what? This guy is one of the coolest musicians I have seen. I am sure you know him already. Let me irritate you a little. Take a guess who the celebrity I am collaborating with no? Please?

Watch this space for more on that song yo!