SEVEN UP

April 13th Wednesday

I was in office. A new mail icon flashed on my desktop. I double clicked it to open the mail. “RAJKUMAR IS DEAD” read the subject line. The mail just had a picture of him and nothing else. My mailbox is spammed by such mails quite often. I had recently received mails with “Aishwarya Dead” and “Salman Dead” as subject lines. Since Rajkumar was old, the mail triggered my curiosity. I logged on to the net and searched “Rajkumar Dead” on google. I hit a link (thehindubusinesslinecom) and opened it.

There it was in bold “RAJKUMAR DEAD”. He was admitted to hospital for bronchial problems a few days back. Apparently died of an heart attack today afternoon. He was 77.

I haven’t watched a lot of his kannada movies. But yes I do know he was born on April 24 – 1929 as Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Mutturaju. He later changed his name to Rajkumar when he was launched into films. He was a very good singer and has sung many devotional songs apart from the many film songs. He had also won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. I did feel a bit sad about him passing away but I got back to my work.

It was about evening when my mom gave me a call and said that violence erupted because of Rajkumar’s Death. A two-day bandh was called. The mob was at its violent best. It burnt few BMTC buses, few autos and even pelted shops with stones.

This was one hell of a ridiculous act. Something that even Rajkumar, if alive, might not approve of (Thou it is a bit stupid because why would people do such a thing when he was alive!!). Why should there be a fuss about this? He died of heart attack. In simple terms a natural death. Obviously appalled by how the crowd reacts to emotional stimuli I went back home.

The next day morning I switched on NDTV to check on the updates. News flashed: Seven people killed in mob violence. The worst part of this mob crisis is that the seven didn’t die in a stampede but where stabbed!!! Was there any reason for the killing? Will the police ever investigate this? Is it ok to kill 7 people because some guy died of a heart attack?

They say those who did all this were his fanatics. If Rajkumar is your idol then why not follow some good things about him. Did you know Rajkumar was a NON SMOKER and a TEETOTALLER? Do any of his fans follow this? I doubt so…
It is ok to be a fan of some actor (like Rajkumar or anybody for that matter). But it is never worth giving your life or taking anybody else’s for them.