Malgudi Days Unveiled: The Unknown Faces Behind Its Success—and the Village Today

Agumbe, the real-life setting behind Malgudi Days, reveals its old-world charm, rustic ambience and hidden stories of Shankar Nag, Dodda Mane and the locals who brought R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi to life.

Agumbe: The Malgudi Days Village That Captured India’s Imagination

If you put a timeline to it, it has nearly been 4 decades since Malgudi days catapulted into India’s collective imagination on the teletube. But no traces of it can be found in this tiny hamlet on the edge of western ghats as I passed through it recently. I was on a trip to Shringeri from Manipal and after climbing an arduous Ghat section, the main road took us through Agumbe which was basically a stretch of a one kilometer road that meandered through houses and some tea stalls on either sides. There was are no traces of Malgudi except for the familiar sight of old world tiled roof houses one of which was ‘Dodda Mane’ (of which I will come to shortly).

 

Agumbe, the village that became Malgudi days (the iconic TV serial) - old charm, the sleepiness, the rustic ambience

Agumbe received more recognition for ‘Malgudi Days’ serials than the highest average annual rainfall it receives in India after Cherrapunji. Agumbe beat Nanjangudi town which the director of this TV serial dallied and courted for a while for his ‘Malgudi days’ before zeroing on this town on the edge of western Ghats. The search for this fictional town of Malgudi actually began in Mysore and surrounding areas. Mysore where RKN lived and wrote this masterpiece initially conceived of this heritage city but by the time Shankar wanted to flesh it out on the small television canvas it could no longer fit the bill of an idyllic place as urbanization had taken over

While Shankar was searching in the old Mysore region, it was Anant Nag (his elder brother) who asked him to check out Agumbe. Story goes that Anant Nag discovered the old world charm of Agumbe when his car broke down in one of the treacherous hair pin bends of the steep ghats in the vicinity of Agumbe. He could have probably gone there for help and was impressed by the beauty of the malnad heartland

Some people say the word Malgudi comes from two old locality names in Bangalore, Mal as in (Malleswaram) and Gudi (Basavangudi). RKN may have liberally borrowed from the people living in these localities to smoke out his characters. Many of the old houses and streets here still show some traces of the Malgudian world. “ Malgudi is a town habited by timeless characters, who could be living anywhere in the world…….It is where we all belong and where we wish we lived” RKN once said.

 

AI (ChatGPT 4.0 rendered image created to capture the essence of Malgudi Days as described in the blog post

The Unknown Faces Behind Malgudi Days’ Success

There are many known people who contributed to the success of Malgudi days. It was Ananth Nag (brother of Shankar Nag) who prodded a disinterested Shankar to take up the project. Producer TS Narasimhan (of Banker Margayya fame) who was related to R K Narayan joined hands, Vaidyanathan came up with his signature tune “Taa Naa Naa Tana Nana Naa” are well known names behind the scenes.

Some of the lesser known names like Ramesh Bhat (production assistant), John Devraj (art director) and town planner gave Agumbe some makeover like water fountain and colonial ‘Robert’ statue also take credit

However names like Kasturi Jayrao of Doddamane of Agumbe may not appear on the credit scroll. But without her, the whole idea of hosting 100 plus crew of Malgudi days in this hamlet with no lodges, hotels, or even a telephone exchange would have been impossible. It was Kasturi Jayrao who encouraged Shankar Nag who came scouting around and took lead in hosting them in her Dodda mane where a few episodes like “Naga’ were shot (Go to 7 minutes 12 seconds to see the house). She persuaded others in the town to do so and as Ramesh Bhat puts it, every house in Agumbe hosted 2 or 3 crew members.

The whole town did it with no commercial arrangement, no money was taken for lodging them. They lent their brassware’s and other household items for recreating 1940s scenes in the serial. Some of these houses were converted into make believe Post Office and Police station of Malgudi. The crew even jokingly put up name boards like “Taj Continental’, ‘Ashoka Palace’ on the houses they were hosted to identify who was put-up where and what food parcel was to be served.

The town practically had no facilities , even for ration and other essentials, they had to go down the ghats to Hebri regularly recalls Ramesh Bhat (noted actor and product assistant). The Malgudi village is still more or less the same even now devoid of any modern trappings

Dodda Mane (meaning big house) is a colonial two storied tiled house with lovely inner courtyard. Its exquisite wooden carvings and stone pillars first set the imagination of shankar Nag rolling. The lady of the house Kasturi Jayrao actually set in motion a series of events that went to become 39 episodes beginning 1985 until a road accident snuffed out Shankarnag’s life in 1986.

As per Manjunath Nayaker who played Swami in Malgudi days, most of the shooting (Swami's home) took place in this house of Shankar Rao at Handalasu which is a small Village/hamlet in Tirthahalli Taluk in Shimoga District of Karnataka State (below)

How Shankar Nag Recreated the World of Malgudi

The three seasons of 13 episodes each, set in a 1940s British India, was created to meticulous detail. colonial props were created, background characters pulled in from surrounding villages, vintage cars like Austins were borrowed from friends….elephants, a road roller and such other stuff brought from Bangalore. Shankar even created the freedom movement by showing ‘andolan kartas’ in mundane scenes

The biggest challenge was to recreate the railway station of Malgudi. Since it had no station, Shankar Nag went to the nearby tiny railway station in Arasalu village, then a meter gauge line. Here he had to shoot a bored Swamy standing on a bench in the classroom and watch the train go by through the window. The problem was there was no railway station in Agumbe, so he tore down the school window, took it 78 kms away to Arsalu and recreated the scene masterfully with just the window separating Swamy and the train at Arsalu on opposite sides. The train could not be halted for the shoot, so the first and second shot was taken on opposite platforms. First when the train arrived in the morning and the second one in the opposite platform when it came back 20 minutes later

A Tribute to Kasturi Jayarao and the People of Agumbe

By some strange coincidence, it was the first death anniversary of Kasturi Jayarao when i visited Doddamane last Sunday (5th December 2021) . Her photo adorned the entrance and a few dozen friends & relatives of the lady were having ‘Tithi Oota’ in the adjacent makeshift tent. I met one of her relatives who said that all youngsters/progeny of the three sq km Agumbe, with its about 500 strong populace, have spread out across the world and it is only the elders staying back.

He graciously invited me for lunch and I politely told him that I was coming back from Shringeri after having lunch at the peetha. However I was hungry for more information about the stories surrounding Agumbe and Malgudi days. The grand daughter of Kasturi Jayarao who could have provided this was busy over seeing the function in the house. So I quietly took leave hoping to be back for more some day.

This blog article is a tribute to Kasturi Jayarao and countless others behind the scenes who quietly made the wonderful world of ‘Malgudi days’ come to life

Location	Shimoga district, Karnataka, India
Famous for	Snakes, known as 'Cobra Capital' of India
	The Cherrapunji of South India
Nearby places	Shringeri Sharadamba Temple (25 Kms)
	Manipal (47 Kms)
Where to stay	Seethanadi Nature camp, Hebri (15 Kms away)
	seethanadi@junglelodges.com
	Fares - 750 Camp tents, 1500 Cottages, fare includes coracle ride down the seethanadi river
Where to party	Pubs & Bars like (Eye of the tiger) in Manipal

Space Force. Intergalactic Fashion and Earthly Mishaps

In a recent snippet that tickled my fancy in the Economic Times, it seems the Pentagon has decided to boldly go where no military has gone before. Virginia has become the unlikely docking station for our newest celestial protectors, the U.S. 'Space Force Guardians.' Decked out in uniforms that seem to be the lovechild of 'Star Trek' chic and 'Spaceballs' parody, these men in blue with oversized buttoned up flaps are Earth's newest line of defense against extraterrestrial ne'er-do-wells and the latest orbital shenanigans courtesy of our neighbors in the Chinese space program.

One has to wonder, do these Guardians carry a 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' in their utility belts? Because, let's face it, if you're going to navigate the cosmos and fend off alien marauders, you'll want to do it with a bit of Douglas Adams' wisdom in your pocket—or at least know where your towel is.

The American spirit of 'go big or go home' is alive and well, it seems, even if sometimes the 'big' is more about style than substance. Take, for instance, the SEALs' legendary takedown in Abbottabad. They came loaded with all the sci-fi trimmings you'd expect—if Q from James Bond had a garage sale, it would look like their equipment room. But in a plot twist worthy of a space opera, one of their stealthy Apaches caught a case of the hiccups and ended up a lawn ornament in bin Laden's backyard.

And then, in a moment that would make MacGyver proud, they realized they'd forgotten something between the laser sights and night-vision goggles—a humble measuring tape. So, in a scene that surely baffled the meticulous planners, a SEAL had to play human ruler next to the body to estimate bin Laden's height. Because nothing says "precision military operation" quite like using a 'nap-time next to the bad guy' technique for biometrics.

So, as we look to the stars and dream of space cowboys, let's not forget the down-to-earth humor in our very human, sometimes comical, endeavors. Whether it's space sentinels in snazzy uniforms or SEALs improvising without a tape measure, one thing's for certain: the final frontier might just be the most entertaining saga of them all.

US Elections 2020. Trumped by the Vote: A Comedic Recap

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between, gather 'round as we recount the grand spectacle that was the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election—a saga so steeped in drama that Shakespeare himself might have said, "Bit much, innit?"

At the center of this whirlwind of democracy was none other than the incumbent President, Donald J. Trump, the man who turned the Oval Office into a Twitter pulpit and diplomatic relations into episodes of reality TV. Trump, a maverick in a red tie, approached the election with the confidence of a man who's just found a coupon for a free haircut and knows exactly what he wants: "Just a little off the sides, please, but leave the top. It's perfect."

Finally Trump'ed up campaign comes to an end after giving some anxious moment to the republican camp. 

In the midst of a global pandemic, Trump's rallies were less about social distancing and more about social gathering. The term 'super-spreader' became synonymous with both the virus and misinformation, and masks were often treated like the dress code at an informal beach wedding—optional and largely ignored.

Then came the debates, a series of verbal jousts where Trump, armed with barbs and quips, faced off against Joe Biden, who often looked like he was wondering whether he'd left the stove on at home. The debates were less about policies and more about endurance, as viewers played a drinking game with the phrase "Will you shut up, man?" Spoiler alert: everyone lost that game.

The antics of Trump have etched themselves indelibly into my memory, living there rent-free. Consider the moment during his visit to Gujarat, India, at Modi's invitation, when he attempted to pronounce 'Vivekananda' - the revered Indian reformer and activist. His tongue tripped and tumbled over the name, transforming it into something that sounded suspiciously like "Weee Vik aa nan mundaaa."

Cutting to the chase, election night arrived with all the certainty of a groundhog's shadow. As the votes were tallied, Trump's lead began to wane, and the President did what any reasonable adult would do: he took to Twitter to declare victory prematurely and accuse the other side of stealing the election. It was like calling "shotgun" before your friend has even bought a car.

The days that followed were a blur of lawsuits, recounts, and tweets—so many tweets. Trump's legal team, led by the ever-composed Rudy Giuliani, held a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping—because nothing says "I'm taking this seriously" like standing next to a sex shop and a crematorium.

As the legal battles waned and the Electoral College cast its votes, Trump's tenure as President was given an expiration date, but not before he pardoned a cornucopia of cronies and possibly contemplated pardoning himself—a move as unprecedented as it was on-brand.

In the end, the 2020 U.S. Election was a masterclass in political theater, with Trump playing the lead role in a performance that was part King Lear, part reality TV, but all-American. It was a time when satire became redundant because reality had beaten it to the punchline.

So, let's raise a glass to the 2020 election: the year politics became so bizarre, comedians had to check if they were accidentally reporting the news. And to Donald Trump, the man who left the White House with the same subtlety he governed—kicking, screaming, and tweeting into the wind.

From Russia with Love: Kindred Spirits United by India's Charm

As the world huddled in the quiet isolation brought on by COVID-19, a ray of camaraderie shone through the stillness, bridging the distance with a message from Ekaterina, a soul from the snow-laced expanses of Russia. Her words, infused with care, reached across the digital divide - a poignant testament to a shared affection for a land that, even amid global solitude, remained vivid in the hearts of those who adore it from afar.With nostalgia woven into every word, her message unfolded - a poignant tapestry of concern for the beloved nation she holds dear in the wake of the pandemic's surge.

Her sentiments are a reminder of the timeless allure India holds, reminiscent of a bygone era when Raj Kapoor, the eternal showman, twirled his way into the hearts of the Russian people with the cinematic treasure "Mera Naam Joker." How intriguingly fate intertwines our stories, blending the past with the present, art with affection.

Ekaterina's concern, as touching as the black and white memories of cinematic yesteryears, reflects the depth of affection that Indophiles across the world harbor for this land of vibrant diversity. Consider Iliya Padukova, the Ayurvedic doctor from the historic streets of St. Petersburg, whose devotion has led her and her fellow pilgrims to the serene hillock in Kerala, year after year for a dozen years - each visit a homage to the spiritual call of Swami Ayyappa.

And it's not just the pilgrimages that signify this bond but also the profound resonance of India's spiritual heritage in the hearts of many Russians. Bhakti Vijnana Goswami, an ambassador of the Russian Iskcon movement, spoke of a thriving community - fifty thousand Hare Krishna devotees - each a vibrant thread in the colorful mosaic of global unity

Such is the power of India's cultural embrace - it knows no bounds, transcending the physical, dancing over oceans, whispering through mountains, to touch lives far and wide. A myriad of Katias and Iliyas stand testament to this timeless bond, a dance of souls intertwined by love, respect, and shared humanity. As the world watches and waits for the tempest to pass, these heartwarming tales of cross-border camaraderie stand as beacons of hope, reminding us that even in times of trial, the human spirit prevails, boundless and eternal.