To others he recommends what to avoid and what to include in their diet. To some he advises to stay off sex.

25

THE ONE WITH THE THICK streak of vibhuti is Ellavupetti Ramayya. On returning from his work, he’d shower and apply his vibhuti before sitting down to eat. He had a special decorated wooden box for his vibhuti. He is quite a hog. Even as his wife scrubs his back, he whispers, ‘Chinnakutti, what is cooking today?’ If they are his favourite foods, then as he wipes himself he calls out enthusiastically, ‘Chinnakutti, bring me my vibhuti box.’ If the cooking is ordinary he yells, ‘Adiye, get me the fucking box.’

The one beside him is Kayadi Kondayya, the castrator. Akkayya calls him ‘Kaikadi Kondayya’—one who squishes balls with his hands!

He gets a royal welcome at the goat pen. Billy goats that have to be castrated are brought to him. He covers the balls with a piece of cloth folded in two and bites them off. Within the blink of an eye, he finishes the job. Of course it looks disgusting, but the goat does not suffer much pain. Before he invented this method of castration, they used to snap the balls off with wooden scissors, pressing on them hard until they softened. The billy goats would scream for help. After all, Kondayya ended that agony.

‘I doubt if anyone will want to mess with you,’ Akkayya would tease. ‘They’d be too scared.’

Seated on the left is Raghupathi Nayakkar with his hair bunched up and his eyes drowsy. His is the hugest bun of all the Nayakkars. Women were forever jealous of his hair.

He is a good worker; rises with the cock crow and does not stop till you light your evening lamp. If he stopped working, he’d fall asleep; like Kumbakarana of the Ramayana.

Not many people know about his private life. Like most of the men of Gopalla village, he too is a bigamist and both his wives are his nieces. He’s been married for six years and not a child to this date.

Well, the village only knew that he had no issue, but not exactly what transpired at home. In his own words, ‘It was a shame!’

The girls had not attained puberty when they were married to him. It was only a year or two later that they came of age.

He’d herd his cows in at sundown and then rush out to gather their fodder.

He would break fresh branches at the edge of the field, bundle them up, finish his evening ablutions, call a passer-by to help with his bundle and bring it home as a head load.

He would feed the cattle and get ready for his bath. He would boil a huge tub of hot water and with one of his wives’ help bring it to the inner courtyard.

He would go into a trance as his back was scrubbed! Scrubbing his back and drawing away from him was impossible. The jingling bangles, silent giggles … it was an erotic scene, to say the least. The woman would cover her face with her pallu to hide her smile and slither away.