Iron box apparna

 

Every place has something famous. In Guwahati, most of the stores were named after the single-horned rhino. In Maharashtra, most of the sports team was named after the great Shivaji Maharaj. In India where ever we go, we always get a name. A name becomes an identity, the identity becomes a factor of pride and the pride becomes a virtue to believe in and celebrate.

Now, let’s go to a remote village in South India –Villasoor.

According to the people who live in the city, if they haven't heard of a place before, it never exists on the map. Just like what they say, this is one of those villages which were never heard off.

From Chennai, approximately, it takes 3 hours to reach this place by car and 6 hours to reach by train. Once you reach the normal highway, a pathway opens. A single way covered with shrubs and bushes. After you walk for hours you can find this village – Villasoor - A village with no adjectives and no exciting history.

Now, what makes a place, place?

Is it the stories? Is it the problem? Or is it the people?

Yes, it’s the people who make stories by solving problems or creating one. But, here everyone was reluctant. They were so ignorant and lazy that even they would forget their roots.

Here is an interesting fact about South India –

The north Indians are vocal. They would love to add a surname and stick to it. They have a hidden history, deep meaning or sometimes they are just too literal. For example, if a person sells hats (thopi in hidi), he becomes a thopiwalla, if a person sells dhokla, he becomes a dhoklawalla.

But, in the south, there is no concept of the surname. They have initials.

Example: M. Ashwin

Here, M stands for Muralidharan which is his father’s name and Ashwin is his actual name. It’s simple and there is nothing much to think about it. But, his father’s name is VN. Muralidharan. Here, V stands for Villapakkam and N stands for Narashimman. Villapakkam is his village’s name and Narashimman is his father’s name.

The Villasoor village’s people were too simple and primitive. They never cared about the name or even fame. They just lived to survive.

But, in the early '90s, there was a change in this village that made the people look back and notice a difference. On sunny noon, suddenly people heard thunder rumbling from a distance. The farmers faced a gust of wind in their farms. The kids found difficulties in flying their kite. The buffalos were mooing loudly and the dogs started barking at the dark clouds. People were scared, excited, and confused looking at the violent scenery around them. As the clouds came in, small kids ran with it trying to race it. Finally, it stopped at a house. People from all the corners came closer to find out what was happening. Everything was happening in the house. Thunder hit the house's roof and a scream came out. People were watching a horror show for the first time in their life. Screams and thunder became one for few moments.

Suddenly the thunder subsided and a baby's crying noise was heard. The confused look on the villagers' faces turned into a smile. That's when it started raining. A man with his daughter came out and shouted to the villagers – Apparna!

People heard and started clapping and dancing with joy.

The same day, scientists and specialist's from Chennai found an anomaly in their screens. In an extreme place like Chennai and Tamil Nadu, how can it rain suddenly?

It's the place where Hot, Hotter, and hottest phrase perfectly fits in. A fleet of researchers came to Villasoor to investigate. From the buffaloes to an old lady, everyone directed them to Apparna's house.

They spoke to her father and started testing her.

A human brain weighs 1.5 KG's. But, Apparna's brain weighed 2 Kg's. She had 500 extra grams of wonder. Her entry into the world invited new people to the village.

That’s when Villasoor had its first moment of Fame.

She had already got her name in Wikipedia.

 

 Though Villasoor had its first experience, things were still alien to them. People were still in their old primitive ways. Nothing changed.

After 10 years, when Apparna was ten, people were swarming around her. She read the newspaper, magazines and even enact scenes from movies. She became the sweetheart of the town.

She used to set up a stall and act like Sallu bhai, Rajini kanth, and even like a politician. (Mitroon)

Another fact of south India – We have a concept called Tiruvizhha – If you have a problem spelling that, call the author. It's known as the festive time where other village folks come here to see the advancements and celebrations.

 

Apparna was their center of attention. 100’s of people swarmed from other cities and villages just to see her performance. This was the second instance where Villasoor became famous.

After many years, people from the film industry would come to see her performance. This was the moment that put Villasoor on the Radar of the entire world. She was the epitome of acting and performance.

Well, here is a fact about Apparna. We all have seen the wonder outside her home, but, we have never seen inside her home and never tried to understand what's inside her mind. In 2008 the entire village missed Apparna for 6 months because she was not at her Home. She left home and reached Chennai to meet her cousin Ashwin just for one purpose, to see the Iron man movie in the theater. She always had this other side that adored the marvel universe, especially the iron man.

The entire village was bored. The buffaloes refused to give milk, the kids were frustrated, the weather was sunny and the other villagers were bored and yawning most of the time. Same as her birth, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, Apparna gave an entrance.

The government bus stood at the entrance of the pathway and the thunder clouds started rumbling. Apparna started getting down, every step she kept down, thunder started to hit the ground. The villagers gathered to welcome her and started cheering her name.

 

As soon as she got down from the bus the entire scenario paused. The buffaloes ground their teeth, the kids started crying and the villagers looked puzzled.

Apparna got down with an iron man mask on her face.

Here is a fact about south India – The Pagan culture is still alive. They still believe in rock and a tree as their god.  

Most of the crowd got scared by her appearance and ran away. The remaining crowd started hitting her with branches from the neem tree and cried the name of the lord.  Even the dark clouds vanished looking at her weird appearance.

Apparna got freaked out and started running towards her home. Every day a fakhir used to chant prayers in front of her house, a baba used to throw ashes in front of her house and a father used to sit and pray.

Apparna saw all these. She missed the fame, name, and the crowd she always had around her. She started crying. She threw all her iron man toys; she tore all her posters and finally saw looked at herself in the mirror.

After few minutes she got an idea. Her 500 grams brain molecules started working. She opened her drawer and picked up an iron box.  The village was not ready for marvel and superheroes. So she had to settle with the next best thing. The iron box, it was something familiar to the local folks and the name iron gave her motivation.

She came out of her home and started setting up the old stall where she used to enact. Then, she just started pressing old clothes.

Suddenly, her old pal, the thunder clouds started rumbling.

The buffaloes surrounded her, kids sat in front of her and the entire village gathered again.

The lost charm was back. The extraordinary girl was performing an ordinary task. People started crying after looking at her.

Finally, her old glory was restored.

When the stage was set, she started dancing with the iron box. Looking at her movements, the entire village started dancing with her and one more time it started raining in the middle of sunny noon.

Researches got another anomaly in their screens and the crowd expanded wider and wider. From that day she became Iron box Apparna.

Every store, house, and even the walls had the poster of Iron box Apparna.

Every iron box vendor from the world came to Villasoor to open a store with Apparna as their image. "One I will turn this iron box into the iron man" – she said to herself.

 

 

.