"Sir, no class today." - some one rang up from the coaching class I've been attending from just Monday.
"Why is that?"
"Sir, Dr. Raj died, y'know"
This might sound a little odd for people who aren't familiar with the fanfare that the thespian has, or for people who do not know about [w:Kannada|Kannada], [w:Karnataka|Karnataka] and this [w:Rajkumar|legendary personality].
As the news about the death of Dr. Rajkumar spread around the South Bangalore streets - shops, businesses started closing down.
The city came to a halt, virtually.
Shutters that closed
One after the other the shops saw their shutters pulled down. For some, it was the respect that they gave to the thespian. For some, it was the fear of someone pelting stones at them. For most, it was a mixture of both. At some places, the Police themselves started closing down the shutters to avoid mishaps.
No wonder the entire city came to halt. The Kannada film industry would be the other one that would come to a complete halt for sometime now, following the death of the thespian. Already, TV channels have been showing the celebrities who left their shootings to pay the last visit to the legendary actor.
But, its a sad thing that the occasion turned into riot on the streets of Bangalore instead of mourning. Maybe just opportunists who call themselves the Dr. Raj fans misusing the occasion?
The legend
Dr. Rajkumar was "the" actor of Kannada - he never took up acting in any other language. While his acting performances are deeply etched in every Kannadiga's mind, the real life personality behind the performances would be something that most people would find hard to forget. The soft spoken, unique personality never cashed in on his following and stardom in politics unlike the neighbouring state thespians, taking into account that even just support to a legion or party by him would've changed the complete course of Karnataka state's history.
A journalist friend of mine recalls all the time how soft spoken and down-to-earth qualities this very special and unique celebrity of Kannada retained even with huge stardom and fan following.
The legend would just stay and would be so for a long long time, though the legendary man has bid adieu to all of us.
howdu