Paying respect to the Legend...

In the wake of demise of Dr Rajkumar, fondly known as Annavaru, i would like to remember the great soul. There is no exageration when we say that Raj was the greatest thing to happen for Kannada film industry. He acted in over 200 films showcasing his acting and singing prowess. People who had gathered in lakhs over the last couple of days to pay homage to the departed soul, speaks of his popularity among his fans, whom he used to refer to as "Abhimani Devarugalu".

Some of the reasons for his popularity among Kannadigas:-

• Only kannada. Though we got many offers to act in non-kannada films, he stuck to his stand of acting only in kannada films. He also played his part in Gokak Cheluvali, started to uplift the kannada language.
• No politics. With the kind of fan following he had in karnataka, any person would have been tempted to join politics, float a party etc.. But Annavaru didnot succumb to this temptation. His justification for not joining politics was that, in politics one has to divide and rule, pit against others etc., these things were not of Raj's liking.
• Upheld Middle-Class values in his movies and real life. As Dr Ananth Murthy noted on TV yesterday, Dr Raj's movies used to showcase the middle-class values like respecting your parents and elders, love for children etc.
• Actor-Singer duo. Apart from being a great actor, Annavaru was also a great singer. It is really rare to find a leading actor also being a leading singer of a film industry.
• Modest soul. When Raj was offered Karnataka Ratna award he refused to accept the honor ahead of Kuvempu, the great Kannada author. This speaks of Dr Raj's modesty.

Though he was educated only till 3rd Std, he cherished some great values, which are worth emulating. Some of the honors that were conferred to him:-

• Dadha Saheb palke award
• Padhmabushan
• Karnataka Ratna
• Honorary Doctrate from Mysore university
• Many National, State and Filmfare awards for best actor and singer

All this said, it is true that there are people who question his contribution to the society. There are many ways in which one can contribute to the society. You can do it the Sir M Vishweshvarayya way by striving for people by his services, or the Narayana Murthy way by improving the economic strata of the society or the Dr Rajkumar way by inspiring people to develop good values, raising social awareness, demonstrating his strong will, determination, modesty etc.

Its really sad to see people engaged in violent activities on the demise of this great hero. There is no justification in turning their grief into violence and causing damage to public property and lives of others.

Read more about Raj at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajkumar PS: Most of the comments made in this post may be reflecting opinions expressed on TV over the last couple of days.