April 24. Two people were born on this day. Well actually many were born this day. Two of them went on to create history. Both legends in their fields. Two genii (well, geniuses is not correct. Google uncles told me) who touched many hearts. One is a legend in Arts and the other in sports. No. You are wrong. I am not talking about Jean Paul Gaultier and Alessandro Costacurta. I am talking about Dr Raj Kumar and Sachin Tendulkar (This is the only time the name will appear in this blog as some of you may still be struggling to think who the sport legend is. The man was and will be referred to as him or he or his) . With the knowledge that I may have pissed Raj "non-Marathi hunter" Thackeray already, I am going to praise a kannada legend along with a marathi manoos.
Let me talk about him first. A lot has already been said about him. Still Indians never get tired of talking about him. He was a child prodigy. Not the Mozart or Kim Ung-Yong type. But still a genius nonetheless. Scoring centuries in all three major Indian tournament debuts is no ordinary feat. Impressed by his performances, the selectors gave him an opportunity to showcase his talent at the international level when he was 16. (Thats right, the same age you were drawing hearts and in it writing the name of that boy or girl in your class) and Boy, did he. People still talk about Abdul Qadir's humiliation. Along with him, Waqar Younis also made his debut. Waqar's inswinging yorker for me is the greatest delivery anyone can bowl. Anyway, coming back to him, whoever saw him play realized that there was something special. I wonder what Rameez Raja would have thought considering how well chosen his words are when he praises any Indian player.
I am not fanatic about him. Personally, I feel Rahul Dravid is the greatest player India has produced. He is third in my list of greatest ever batsmen. (With RD being second, Guess who is first?). I hope none of the cricinfo type fans read my blog. Else I will have thousands of hate mails for having my personal opinion. But I will take nothing away from him. He is a magical player. When he gets going there is nothing in the world that can stop him (except Optimus Prime may be but nobody has proof about that). The stats show that almost everyday is his day. But sadly the trend is such that in shorter versions if the opposition lets him score, the other team members will just fall apart. If he scores century the rest feel too awed to score I guess. Be it international or IPL, the team loses the match.
He has played some of the greatest innings' I have seen. 98 against Pak is the best ODI innings by an Indian, 175 against Aussies(remaining ten couldnt score 175), Two back to back centuries vs Aus in Sharjah, I do not want to go on listing. Also, 99 international centuries is just mind blowing. The man has more number of boundaries than runs scored by many solid batsmen. Donald "Holy-God-how-did-he-do-it" Bradman saw himself when he saw the little master play. I guess that says enough about him. There can not be another one like him. Happy Birthday Sirji. You have provided hope and entertainment to a country, you have made sure millions forget their troubles albeit for a brief period of time. As an Indian and as a sportsfan I thank you for being there for us.
Now coming to the lesser talked about person. Annavru as he is known to us. The legend, the star, the super star ( to rajini fans - Yes, he is.), Natasarvabhouma, Gana Gandharva, Karnataka Ratna, Padmashree, Padmabhushana, Dada Saheb Phalke Prashasti vijetha, Vara Nata, Rasikara Raja Dr Raj Kumar. I may have missed few here but you get the idea. For Kannada Cinema Industry, there cannot be a bigger star than him. For millions of Kannadigas he is the greatest actor. He did not resort to stunts, smoking , drinking or fancy style. He was the simple human being and it showed. And till his end, he was dedicated to Kannada only.
I for one started idolizing him late. Till I was 15 or so I never really figured out the persona. When i grew up, i started reading more about him and watching more of his movies. The more I saw, the more I was hooked. This man was better than all the actors I had seen before. Kasturi Nivasa was one of the first movies I saw. Till date I have not seen a better acting performance from any other actor. Here was the great actor whom I had not cared much about till then. Kasturi Nivasa was my Bodhi Tree. Suddenly, Annavru became a major part of my movie watching schedule.
All his movies, you can not help but root for him. He may be a crook ( Daari Tappida Maga) mentally retarded guy (Mallammana Pavada) , a king (Krishnadevaraya), a patriot fighting for his rights (Mayura), A son wronged by his father and a father who has forgotten about his son (Babhruvahana), a kind hearted man facing a tragic end ( Kasturi Nivasa), a villain (Bhakta Prahlada) and the list goes on. So many versatile roles and so many memorable movies. He was a part of life for millions. Almost everyone had grown up watching him fight evil and truimph. No wonder people were distraught when he passed away.
His legend is not just his on screen personality. Once the grease paint came off, he was this humble, down to earth man. He was a superstar who could change the course of an industry and if he really wanted, a state. But he always remembered that deep down he was "Mutthuraj", the ordinary man. How can any person who has studied till only fourth standard make it so big? Here is the answer. Humility, self-belief, loads of talent and even more loads of discipline. Just leaving school after fourth and standing outside the movie studios will help? Since most lack on the talent part, let’s just study, pass our exams and end our life by becoming software engineers, shall we?
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