A farewell to the king

Honestly, I was actually looking forward to the world tour that Michael Jackson was about to begin. So today's news that MJ is no more, came as a shock.



I have always been a fan of MJ's talent. As a person, I always thought that he was a very insecure, eccentric and weird. But as an artist, I think he was the greatest performer ever. His music and dance never ceased to amaze me. His music was very lively and foot tapping. Even though he was known for his fast numbers, I always liked his slow ones more. His " You are not alone", "Dangerous", "Thriller", "Beat it" and so many other hits of his are evergreen numbers and I am sure our future generations too will enjoy his performance.



Of course, his dance has been a great inspiration to lot of artists- be it the performing singers and dancers. The concept of stage performance by singers probably was initiated by MJ. He nurtured his talent amidst all the controversies. Donno how many of them were true and how many were actually created to make him famous.



Whatever it is, MJ was a and is always the king of pop. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest artists that the world ever saw.

Let her live her life

I was watching "Britney: For the Record" the other day. It is a documentary made about Britney's comeback. It sort of felt like a confession time for her. It looked like she wanted to clear many things.

As I sat watching it, I wondered why was I watching it? I am not a Britney fan but I do not hate her. I think her music is ok. At least she gives us some music to dance. I admit that she is a better dancer than a singer. And yes, I have enjoyed watching her music videos.:) But yet, all these reasons do not answer my question. Why was I watching this documentary at all?

I started watching it to see the glimpses of the life of a celebrity. As it progressed, I could feel the vulnerability of a celebrity. And when the documentary ended, I had one thing to say - "Let her live her life". After her first hit, she has been in news all the time. Her private life has been ripped apart by the paparazzi. They have followed her everywhere as if they depended on her for living. Her personal life became major headlines. Her music was not discussed any more.

She has made mistakes; so what? Isn't she a human like us? Does she have to pay this big price for being a celebrity? My heart goes out to her kids who deserve a very normal upbringing. Let her say- Oops, I did it again or Hit me Baby one more time. Let her do anything she wants in her personal life. Let us not judge her private moments. Let only her music catch our attention. Let her live a free life. Let her live her life in peace. Let her live a normal life like we all do.

Bharat Ratna for Panditji

Finally, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi gets Bharat Ratna. This 86 year old veteran might have limited his concerts now but his powerful voice will always echo in the hearts of music lovers. His music has always been appealing to the well-informed music scholars to the masses. In Karnataka, people can never forget Pandit's "Bhagayada Lakshmi Baaramma" that was and is almost played in every household. There have been numerous attempts to become another Bhimsen Joshi in vain. I don't think there would be another singer like Panditji any time. But it is a sad thing that his legacy does not have a deserving heir yet.

I have mentioned Panditji in the following post before.
http://madhooo.blogspot.com/2005/08/something-splendid-happens-to-me.html

May their souls rest in peace

Pramod Mahajan surrendered to death after a long battle. I was not an ardent admirer of Pramod Mahajan but still felt sad because of the way he met the end. As long as I have seen, he had always been a sort of PRO for BJP. I heard him in some debates and found him a good speaker. Definitely he did not deserve this kind of death, that too from his own sibling!
Well, sometimes one wonders how far the negative feelings can take us? Man's biggest enemy is man himself, isn't it?


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By the time we could condole Suryanaraya's death, the issue of his bigamy came up. It is sad that his family got to know about his second marriage after his death. And the worst part was that his first wife tried to commit suicide. Rather than grieving over his death, I thought people were actually fighting for rights over his dead body there!!!!!

Coming to the main issue, terrorism seems to have found its path through kidnapping, threatening to kill if the demands are met and then anyways going ahead with beheading. I wonder where they have got this idea that they will meet their goal by committing such inhumane crimes!!

About Annavru ( that is the nickname of Rajkumar)

I had been planning to write a post on Rajkumar since a long time. But then somehow I kept postponing it. But when I heard of his demise, I decided to pen my thoughts about him immediately.

I have grown up with Rajkumar's movies. I have always found them interesting. Most of his movies were unique and family watchable. People say that he was best at mythological roles. But I think he provided justice to most of the roles he performed. Be it the potter in "Bhaktha Kumbara", or the unemployed guy in "Bhagayada Lakshmi Baramma", or the strict father in "Bhaagyavantharu", or the altruistic rich guy in "Kasturi Nivasa"- his performances were memorable.

He spoke excellent pure kannada. He had a perfect dialect and he varied it with the roles he played accordingly. I have seen many literary figures falter while trying to speak pure kannada. But Rajkumar spoke "shuddha" kannada very easily and impeccably.

The best part about him was that he was a fantabulous singer. He has been a national award recipient for playback singing. I always felt that he had a very versatile voice.

Dr.Rajkumar refused to cash on his demi God status. He declined to join politics, unlike his peers in the other south Indian states.

From whatever I have seen of him, or read about him, I know that he was very simple, humble and disciplined. And I think these are the virtues that gave him a permanent place in the hearts of kannadigas


About the riots that followed Annavru's death

When I saw people burning vehicles, petrol bunks and pelting stones, I was really bewildered for a moment. And you could see the same people waving and grinning at the cameras. Who were these people? It did not look as if they were mournful about Raj's death. It was really painful to see his family vainly requesting the mob to move away so that they could perform the last rites. The mob did not even let Raj's family grieve over his death. What a shameful act!!!

If these people were "true fans", then they would have given a very good tribute to Annavru. If they were upset about his death, then they could have grieved instead of making others grieve. It is sad to see that the misdeeds of these hooligans, these fanatics have brought a bad name to the fans of Dr.Rajkumar.

Finally, I feel that Rajkumar will always be alive through his films and songs. That is the best part of being an artist, isn't it? An artist always is immortal through his/her art.

Yippee!!!!!Jill Carroll was finally released unharmed. What a news! This news has really made my day today.:) Yep, my faith in humanity, life and God has become more stronger.:)

For more information:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0331/p01s01-woiq.html?s=yv2

My great grandma (Ajjamma) passed away today. She had been bedridden recently. She was 93.

It seems that my great grandpa expired at a young age leaving my Ajjamma with two children. During those days, the life of a widow was not at all a bed of roses. In spite of that, Ajjamma lived very courageously. She had to work very hard to give a decent life to her children. My grandma fondly remembers that Ajjamma would never refuse anything that her kids asked for. In spite of difficult circumstances, she never asked anyone for help.

I always found her very patient. I never saw her angry even for a moment. She was a perfect host and she would never let anyone go without at least a cup of tea. She was very particular about cleanliness. The image of Ajjamma in a red cotton saree smiling with her sparkling white will always remain with me. I derive lot of inspiration from her.

May her soul rest in peace.

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I finished reading Durgasthamana yesterday. I must say that it has been one of the best books I have ever read so far. I was moved to tears after reading the climax. I was actually thrilled to think that it is a true story afterall. Bravery, courage, sacrifice, patriotism- those feelings were all for real. Wow! Salutation to those warriors, their families and TaRaSu for portraying their stories.

I have been reading Nathuram Godse's biography. I also read an interview of Gopal Godse, Nathuram's brother.

I have also read Mahatma Gandhi's "My Experiments with Truth". Gandhi definitely has been one of the forefront leaders of the freedom struggle. I admire his commitment towards truth and non-violence. I also think that he had the capability to convince people to follow his way. But he had his differences with revolutionary leaders like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev as they did not believe in non-violence. There are some accusations that Gandhi could have saved the lives of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. There were also certain eccentricities of his, like experimenting his abstention or his role as a father or a husband.

Nathuram Godse was not happy with the priniciples of Gandhi. He felt that Gandhi was responsible for the partition. Hence the ultimate step. Well, I dont believe that the assasination solved any problem. Maybe a solution could have been derived in a peaceful way. But whatever it is, it cannot be denied that Godse was a patriot and that he was involved in the freedom struggle.
In his defence in the court, he says:
I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

Check out Gopal Godse's interview at http://ngodse.tripod.com/godse14feb2000.htm
In this interview, one fact that surprised me was about "Hey ram".
Also if you are interested you can check out http://www.nathuramgodse.com/index.php?playid=1