He now lives with his 54-member strong family at Koduvalli village, 18 km from here. When The Indian Express met Eregowda, he was sitting on a mat in a small room. He had lost his sight four years ago and is short of hearing. Eregowda spoke with the help of his son Bhyregowda (48).

Married at the age of 25 to Manjamma, he had seven sons and six daughters. In August 1945, when cholera broke out in his village, he too got infected severly. Finally, on August 4, he breathed his last at 3 am. Arrangements were made to cremate his body. His body was laid on the chatta and tied with ropes. At about 3 pm, his body started shaking, much to the bewilderment of the people around him. He opened his eyes and said, ``I have been pushed back to bhooloka from yamaloka''. Needless to say, hewas freed from the chatta.

Later, Eregowda described his sojourn as Yamaloka Yatra. He said, ``A person on a buffalo took me to yamaloka where there was a big golden door. A king with a golden crown stood there shooting questions. I was made to wait outside the door. The king then told the person who brought me that I was not the person he wanted. He asked the man to bring the person whose life had ended and push me back to bhoolokha. After a while, I couldn't see or hear anything.'' On the same day around 4 pm, Timmegowda, a farmer from Kotevooru, died.

Incidentally, Bhyregowda, Eregowda's son, who was born in 1950, is called Sattappanamaga or `Dead father's son'.