The Mistress of Dodda Mane

“ You knoooowwww, we lost so many expensive antiques”, she huffs with a twisted pout!
I indulge her with furrowed brows, “Really”? And then vomit some more questions. “But tell me more. How was it? Who all were here? Was the entire shooting done here? Where did they stay? Where did YOU stay while they were here?’’
Like a barrage of other national and international travellers, I have snaked my way up to the misty Agumbe hills and am thrilled to be in the exalted company of Kasturi Akka, the matriarch of Dodda Mane – the house where two episodes of the famous heart-warming 80s TV series, Malgudi Days, were shot. In this, Kannada actor and director Anant Nag brought alive, RK Narayan’s characters Swami and friends.
More than thirty years later, intrigued travellers are happy to duck under the low beams of the wooden doors and be summoned to Kasturi Akka’s court, her kitchen. She sits in a corner of the large wooden table, with arms heaved on top and having atleast three parallel conversations at one time: with the maid, guests and some visitor from the village. The house is almost 150 years old (Or maybe more. No one seems to peg an exact date). The conversations are rehearsed; she knows five languages, the shooting of the serial, how the house was completely taken up by stars and equipment and then the silence. Her son takes you for a short tour of the house and explains how more than 30 family members lived here. Now only eight occupy the rooms. The upper floor is for guests, who can come and stay in the dorm styled spacious hall. It hangs above the courtyard, around which old furniture and household items are scattered. One such old bed is where Kasturi Akka’s mother chats away to the household women. Walk around to the back and the two wells, a small garden and the traditional bathroom is shown to you with alacrity.


What’s unique about the house is that guests are invited to stay and eat with the family at no cost. Pay what you please at the end of it. With Malgudi Days having touched many a hearts, there is a steady flow of guests. “Hundreds in a month”, I’m told. With benevolence at its peak on the roads, the Malgudi Days hook is working well for the home. It transports people back to the days when the simplistic Narayan sketches slowly metamorphosed into gripping stories about Swami and his friends.  If you happen to go to Udipi, take a detour to Agumbe and bask in some nostalgic warmth.
Ph: 08181 233075. Call and check if you can stay or join in for lunch.

4 Responses

  1. nice one.. 🙂

    the line ‘the conversations are rehearsed’ is so true… happened with us to at the peruya veedu in athangudi, chettinad. the caretaker perimma went about rattling off the history, she knew all that ppl would ask.. but still its told with such enthusiasm!

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