I SALUTE YOU

His name was Andiappan which literally when translated in Tamil meant “The father of the penniless” or could also mean “The father of the beggars”. You could find him on the busy roads outside the Madras High Court from early morning to the night wearing a dirty green torn shirt and pants of the same colour with more holes than material. His hair was bedraggled, unkempt and full of dust and grime. He wore khaki coloured canvas shoes which had seen much better days and from which his toes used to stick out to say hello to everyone.

Though he looked dirty and had a long disheveled beard, he looked majestic for he always walked with an erect spine. He had a crooked stick in his hand which he used like a baton or at times like a rifle and used to tuck it under his arm to march up and down the busy thoroughfare which skirted the Madras High Court while simultaneously shouting out orders to his invisible platoon. The vendors and regular users of the road considered him crazy in the head and left him to his own without bothering him. It was rumored that he had been a soldier during the Japanese invasion of Burma in the Second World War and had gone off his rocker due to the torture inflicted on him by the Japs who had taken him a prisoner of war.

Military Andiappan, as he was called would march straight up and down the road and whenever he came across somebody on the road that appeared affluent he would go up to them, click his heels and salute them in typical military fashion after which he would politely request them in chaste English to give him a rupee for his lunch or dinner as the case maybe. In most cases the people thus requested would be impressed by his command over the English language and give him some coins to appease him. Andiappan would not stop with that but would pocket the coins and give them a smart salute followed by the imitation of a twenty-one gun salute.

Andiappan frequented the cross roads near the Madras High Court for nearly forty years, but was never found to sleep on the roads. It was said that he lived in an old abandoned ramshackle hut on the outskirts of Madras from which he would come in the morning and return at night. Andiappan became such a regular feature in the locality that even tourists from other lands would visit him and take pictures of him. Andiappan would happily pose for them with his ram-rod stiff appearance while his crooked stick would be used as a rifle cradled in his arms and resting on his shoulder.

I used to be a regular visitor to the area during those days and would come across Andiappan during my visits. He would address me as Captain and salute me in his inimitable style after which he would put his hand out as was his wont and I would give him whatever loose change happened to be in my pocket on that given day.

It was on one of such visits that I found Andiappan was missing and questioned the local street side sugarcane juice vendor nearby about his whereabouts. The vendor mentioned that Andiappan had not been seen in the vicinity for more than a week and that he did not know what had happened. I then coaxed the vendor to tell me where exactly Andiappan, resided since I had become quite affectionately attached to this crazy soldier.

Learning that Andiappan lived in a place called Ambattur, I set out to visit him the next day which happened to be a Sunday and a holiday for me. On reaching the suburbs of Ambattur, I began questioning the locals about Andiappan and gradually found my way to where he lived. The dilapidated hut in which Andiappan lived was located in a desolate lane which was not too well frequented by locals.

As I neared the hut I found a heavy stench emanating from the hut. Using a handkerchief to cover my mouth and nose, I cautiously made my way forward and gently pushed the sackcloth screen which covered the empty threshold of the hut. The hut was buzzing with flies and in the darkness I could make out the form of Andiappan lying in a corner of the one room hut. Even in death Andiappan remained ram-rod stiff and rigor-mortis which had set in had ensured that he remained stiff.

I was overcome with nausea and hurriedly went across to the nearby police station to inform them of what had happened. They in turn informed the local hospital which sent across a mortuary van to collect his stiff corpse.

I returned to the hut with a couple of policemen in tow to ensure that his body was taken care off properly. The men who came with the mortuary van were shocked at the decomposed state of the corpse and appeared hesitant to even carry it to the van. It did not look like a case of murder or suicide but merely a natural death caused by old age. After a few rupee note exchanged hands they were persuaded to do so and the van moved away from the lane.

Curious to know more about Military Andiappan, I went again into the foul smelling hut and found that all of his meagre earthly possessions were kept in a small tin box which was found in one corner of the hut. Curious to know what was there inside the tin box, I carried it outside the hut where I could breathe in some fresh air and in the presence of the two police men opened the box.

Inside the tin box I found documents that said that Andiappan was a retired Captain who had served meritoriously in the British army during the Second World War and had been decorated with the Victoria Cross Medal for his brave feats of valour during the war. I was also shocked to find documents which revealed that Andiappan was receiving a full pension of a thousand rupees per month which was being deposited in a bank account.

Under these documents I found an old, black and white photograph now turned black and yellow in which young Andiappan in Military outfit was found standing beside a beautiful cultured lady who appeared to be his bride. There were also other documents to show that Andiappan’s wife had died of cancer. There was no proof of him having been imprisoned in Burma or being tortured by the Japs. I therefore deduced that Andiappan had been unable to bear the shock of his wife’s demise and therefore gone off his rocker.

Finally at the very bottom of the tin box, I found a dirty looking bank passbook which had a lot of entries written by hand, for in those days computers were unheard of; along with the pass book there was a letter which appeared to be his last will and testament. While the passbook showed that Andiappan was a very wealthy man and had over a million rupees to his credit in the bank, the letter revealed that Andiappan had never ever spent a single paise of all the money that he had begged on the roads alongside the Madras High Court and had saved it all so that it could be utilized for cancer research after his demise.

I was amazed by this discovery of such a noble soul. A true Indian Stalwart in every sense of the word. Two days later after post-mortem had been completed to prove that Andiappan had died a natural death, I managed to bury his body in a nearby cemetery dressed in military regalia and in typical military splendor. I was accompanied by two representatives of the “Madras Hope for Cancer Research Foundation” to whom I then handed over the passbook along with his last will and testament so that they could fulfill his wishes. 

As his body was lowered to the ground, yours truly whom he affectionately called Captain stood at attention and clicked my heels as I put up a salute that would put any military officer to shame. This was the least I could do for a man who had saluted every one on the roads of Madras before begging them for money which would now be used for cancer research.