Bengaluru :

He is the most sought-after man in the Assembly hall. Clad in a white uniform and carrying five boxes of spices containing  yalakki (cardamom) and lavang (clove) in his five pockets, Mudulingaiah has a cooling effect on our netas. From chief ministers Ramakrishna Hegde to J H Patel and B S Yeddyurappa to Siddaramaiah, all have relied on him.

Mudulingaiah, popularly known as ‘Lavang Gowda’, is an attender at the Legislative Assembly and has been distributing these ‘mouth fresheners’ to netas, officials, visitors and journalists. Apart from cardamom and clove, he carries arecanuts and dried pieces of gooseberry.

Though attenders are on ‘call attention’ and run around the hall when netas need something, Mudulingaiah does that and more.

He fulfils the legislators’ ‘supplementary demands’ for cardamom or clove, especially  during the post-lunch session. This keeps them alert, he says.

Mudulingaiah joined the secretariat service as an attender during the tenure of then chief minister D Devraj Urs. It was during Ramakrishna Hegde’s tenure that he was posted as an attender in the Assembly hall. “One day, then minister P G R Scindia asked me if I had any clove. I did not have any at that time. But I purchased cardamom and clove for `1 from a store and gave it to him. Since then, it has become a habit to give spices to whoever asked. Many of them, including Hegde, Patel, Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, Speaker Kagodu Thimappa and Siddaramaiah have picked up spices from my boxes. However, chief ministers S M Krishna and Bangarappa did not have the habit of chewing spices,” he said.

Mudulingaiah, a resident of Srinagara, buys spices and dry gooseberry for `200 a day from an ayurveda store during the session. A few give him tips. Both Mudulingaiah’s children, who have done MBA, are working in private firms.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by K. ShivaKumar / March 30th, 2015