Budugu: About a Boy and his Worldview

A confession: I never really got the exhilaration around ‘Budugu’ when I was a child myself. What’s to be amused about? This is what normal kids do!

Fortunately, I grew up. When I read the book as a young adult, I laughed out loud, marvelling at the imagination and chutzpah of the bratty Budugu.

I admired the compelling story of Budugu by Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, and the artworks by Bapu made the story more immersive for me. Growing up in the mid 1950’s certainly gave plenty of time for boredom, creativity, annoyance, and family bonding.

The World of Budugu

Budugu, the seven year old, sincerely believes that he is a grown up. His world revolves around an uncle full of opinions, a protective grandma always ready to Budugu’s rescue, a loving mother and a practical father.

The other characters in his life are the ever changing tuition masters, neighbourhood aunt, the many two plaited Sitas that his uncle is so enamoured by,  Seeganapesunamba  – his baby-talking play friend, and the neighbourhood tonga driver. (Budugu’s ambition in life is to become a tonga driver or a rail engine driver.) His alternatingly naïve and strong world view amuses us as he makes sense of his family, his neighbourhood and its goings on.

All the characters are alternatively frustrated or indulgent towards Budugu. But the story line, the interactions between these characters set in the relaxed clip of their life gives us adequate opportunity to understand that it is Budugu who is actually indulgent of the grownups around him.

Sample his wisdom:

• These grownups don’t know a lot of things.
• Why babies? For mothers to kiss.
• Idea means hope. My uncle has a lot of them.
• How to have a bath: Close the bathroom door, wet the soap and rub it hard so it dissolves a bit. Sit quietly. Sprinkle some water on your head. Throw all the water in the bathroom and come out quietly.
• These adults! But they are nice people. One of them will rescue you when you get naughty.
• Rising kids means giving you a bath, making you wear clothes, feeding you, making you sleep, and scolding you occasionally.  I am never around to be raised.

Budugu the Advice Dispenser

Budugu dispenses precious advice freely to us about the most important topics in his Life. The most significant of his elucidations is his advice to tuition masters on how to teach children. Sample this:    (and do note Budugu’s counting and list making skills)

One : A new tuition master must always visit the old tuition master and seek guidance on how to twist the boy’s ear – to the right or left? If not, he can also ask Budugu this.

One more: The tuition master should always wear a head gear to protect his own scalp from naughty children.

Ten: No use bringing chocolates. Pakodis are better to make children listen to you.

Eleven: A tuition master should never have thick moustache. The child’s attention will always be drawn to how the moustache moves.

Fifty: A tuition master should never be regular. He should claim head ache or fever once in a while. This is how he can become friends with the children.

Hundred: If a special room is provided for tuitions, always decline.

Budugu also bestows survival skills to children for dealing with tuition masters:

One: Never give lenience to a tuition master. They will start taking you lightly. If you get a private room for your tuition, study normally for 15 minutes. If you like your tuition master, continue. If not, shout : Grandma.. this fellow is pinching me.. Of course, he wouldn’t have pinched you. But  cry like he really did. Then grandma and the tuition master will have a fight and then the tuition master will quit. It will take another 10 days to find another tuition master.

Two: If he is a good tuition master, he will anyway not come every day. Never pick a fight with such fellows.

The innocence of childhood and the sage wisdom that stems forth from a sassy boy create so many wonderful opportunities for humor. The humor lends itself to irony when he uses words too advanced for his age, but with the confidence of a know-it-all.

Reading Budugu is always fun. Rereading this gem of a book now made me reflective: What was Budugu like when he grew up? I would like to think that perhaps Budugu retained his audacity and cheek, who egged on his children and grandchildren ( wouldn’t he be 60+ years old now?) to be the children that children can be.

Budugu and the world of mischievous kids

Budugu is in illustrious company:  Calvin and Hobbes, Charlie Brown, Dennis the Menace. They are the crafty, mischievous, terrible, anxiety-causing yet lovable kids who have received the love and indulgence of their readers.  (It’s another thing to say that if you were the parent of any of them you would probably have a nervous breakdown sooner or later. )

I wonder though why Budugu is not featured in syndicated columns in Telugu papers, just like Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes for the English papers. Illustrated by the venerable Bapu – why haven’t  the Budugu sketches caught on the imagination of the art books / color books for children?

Parenting

When I reread the book again for this article, I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for the author who captured the age of innocence with so much love and affection. The times have changed, but what endured are the tantrums, family dynamics and audacious dreams. Budugu, the boy with bushels of attitude and strength of character, feels like your own.

When my son was about 8years old, I read the book for him, but I enjoyed the book more than he did. This time around, I realised that the value of the book was in the insights I got as a parent. Surprise, surprise… it is really a children’s book meant for adults! I might even call it necessary reading for parents.

It is not often that a book drives a sense of gratitude. But here I am: Thank you Budugu, Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, Bapu! Thank you, Amma, Nanna for introducing the book to me.

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