THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Kuda nannaakkaan undo, kuda? (any umbrellas to be repaired? in English) Kuda nannaakkaan undo, Kuda?” This dialogue from the 1988 flick “Pattanapravesham” is an evergreen dialogue that leaves Malayalis of all age groups in splits even now. Mohanlal and Sreenivasan essaying the roles of CIDs Dasan and Vijayan masquerade as umbrella repairers going from house to house to find the lead to a case.
Now, the once-ubiquitous umbrella repairers who visit homes have almost become extinct in the state. Basheer, 80, a Karakkamandapam native, is the last of this vanishing lot. He has been engaged in umbrella repair for the last 65 years. With branded three-fold and five-fold umbrellas hitting the market, Basheer had to quit his role as a repairer at a leading umbrella shop in Chalai market. This led him to procure a used moped and travel around the city, bellowing, “Kuda nannaakkaan undo, Kuda?”
The frail-looking Basheer learned the nuances of umbrella making and repairing from his late uncle, Kasim Kunju, who resided at Balaramapuram, when he was 15 years old. Neck-deep in poverty, Basheer could not pursue a school education beyond Class I.
He remained attached to his uncle’s shop for several decades and later joined a leading umbrella mart at Chalai market. But when business became a little dull there, Basheer decided to venture out to repair umbrellas in residential areas of the city.
Clad in a white overflowing shirt and a white dhoti with an iron trunk on his dilapidated TVS XL 100 moped bearing the number KL01 BY 9518, Basheer earns between Rs 500 and Rs 800 a day. “Over the last several years, I’ve not been getting much umbrella repairing work orders.
Even though the quality of umbrellas has come down now compared to the old ones, people prefer to get a new one when its strings get faulty. Hence, I’ve also ventured into collecting scrap and selling it at Chalai market. There are only a handful of people engaged in umbrella repair in Thiruvananthapuram. Without enough business, many have joined other trades,” said Basheer.
He says with a grin that during the rainy season, people come in search of his tribe. Deepthi Dinesh, an engineering student residing at Vellayambalam, accidentally heard Basheer calling out, “Kuda nannaakkaan undo, Kuda...” when she came out with half a dozen umbrellas to repair.
“I had actually decided to throw away these umbrellas as I could find none to repair it. Amid my busy schedule, I was unable to go to Chalai market to have these repaired. I had to cough up only Rs 420 towards repairing six umbrellas, but I decided to round it off to Rs 450. I have been extremely happy with Basheer appooppan’s work,” said a beaming Deepthi. Hearing about Basheer’s visit, all the neighbours ventured out with their faulty umbrellas.
When Anitha Lal came out with ‘Made in UK’ umbrellas, Basheer did not waver and he found a simple solution to the faulty automatic handle. He replaced it with a locally-made handle much to her happiness. His trunk reminds the women folk of ‘Noah’s Ark’ as it has all the paraphernalia to repair umbrellas of all sorts. Following the death of his wife Suhara Beevi, Basheer has been living with his daughter, Sharmila, who has three college-going children.
“My wish is to earn my livelihood as long as I can and give a share of my earnings to my daughter and her children. I do have lifestyle diseases. But due to god’s grace, I’m still healthy and work from 7 am to 3 pm every day,” said a contented Basheer after getting a good business.