Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Rayarannu kandaaga!! - Memorable day... (28th May 2010)

Rao actually means "Someone who is in an esteemed position... Someone called with dignity... who commands respect..." I am not saying this because my surname is Rao... Unfortunately my surname was lost when my Dad wrote his name in SSLC exam nomination forms and he became Muralidhar ever since... and my fate was sealed without the surname which I dutifully kept it myself... In-fact 'Raya' meant King... 'Rayaru'(plural form) was what they used to call people who were mostly zamindars or of higher caste!! This was 100-200 years back... now it has become Rao!! and mostly used in South India and Maharastra. For that matter an exception is... Rao Iftikar you can call him South Indian although he is a paki fast bowler... sorry for that poor joke!!
Anyways... this surname thing meant a lot when I talked to a person who was an inspiration to my Dad!! Most of you would have seen him on TV years back... He was mostly playing roles of a politician... or a villainous role mostly.. U might ask whats the difference... anyways... He is elder brother to Dattatreya ('Mayamruga' fame!!) I have never seen a person who can command that kind of respect other than my grandfather... gentle yet very much in control of what he is saying and doing... Suddenly the surname factor hit me...
My Dad used to always talk about his writings which was one of his first few works... "SomaNNana Stockninda" novel (articles) used to be published by "Karmaveera" magazine long back... my Dad being an avid reader that he is... usually would look forward for these articles... This had so much of influence on my Dad that he used to relate/read out certain instances from those articles to me... I was surprised how he could remember... Well.. last month... it was my Dad's Bday on April 23rd... I wanted to gift him something special... unusual... no flowers... no cakes... no celebration at home... nothing that would make him forget that it happened after some time... but something to cherish for a long time...
I started searching for this person back in march this year... worst part was that the publisher of the book had passed away and there was no stock at all... phew... My weekends would always be going around Bangalore searching for this book...then came facebook to the rescue... I somehow got in touch with many people who started my search again... Finally I got his residence number from a friend in facebook Beesu... one of premiere theater and film actor... now co-producer... I started talking to the one and only H G Somashekar Rao!! Such a humble person... at first he asked me many questions but I requested to meet him in person and then answer all his queries...
So on May 29th, I took my Dad who had absolutely no idea where he was going and met SomaNNa in person... Wat a feeling!! I have never seen my Dad so excited and happy... SomaNNa read out some of his newspaper columns for us... My Dad in turn stated some verses from his novel... very impressive indeed considering he never read the novel and all he read were excerpts from the magazine... SomaNNa asked me how did I come to know where he lived and I had to tell him the whole story right from the very beginning... He was over-joyed... When I told him that at one instant I went to a book store I forgot his name as well as the book's name... he couldn't stop laughing... It was an hour long meeting with many many experiences shared...
My Dad got all SomaNNa sir's works personally autographed!! Prob dated as the best gift I could ever think of giving it to him... Now Dad also has SomaNNa sir's residence number as well so that he can call him up anytime he wishes...
I would like to thank Dharmashree, Abhishek SN, Mrs. Indira Sundar (Sundara Prakashana) and finally Beesu Suresh for their help provided... invaluable indeed!!

10 comments:

  1. Ajay u r gr8. just bcos ur parent brought u up with gr8 value. Super valuble gift.
    All the very best! - Kalyan

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  2. thanks kalyan... hehehe... nothing great abt this sir... just wanted to share the happiness with everyone...

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  3. Good one man!
    Btw.. His house is in Srinagar right? My uncle used to stay right next to his house.

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  4. Yeah... he does stay near Hanumanth Nagar (Road Opp PES Diploma College)... best part was... one of my friend used to stay on the same road and I used to visit him every week... If at all I had the luck... We could have met him much earlier...

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  5. awesome..... tat's a real good blog...very different...very unique..i'm sure your dad would've been totally happy with this gift

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  6. Thank you aarthi... glad you liked it.

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  7. Hi Ajay.. Nice share.. The book "Somannana Stockninda" is the best auto biography.. I have read it once but I am eager to read it again but unfortunately not getting it anywhere.

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  8. Hi Ajay.. Nice share.. The book "Somannana Stockninda" is the best auto biography.. I have read it once but I am eager to read it again but unfortunately not getting it anywhere.

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  9. Very sorry for replying so late... Please go to Ankita book store in Gandhi bazaar Bangalore to get the book...

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  10. Hi Ajju , can you please pass me Mr Someshekar Raos phone number . I would love to meet him too

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