Shame Shame, dirty shame!

Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Mutturaju died on April 12, 2006. He died of a heart attack and was almost 78. He didn't smoke or drink. He acted in over 200 movies and he mostly never smoked or drank in them either. He has won 10 Best Actor Filmfare awards which is the second highest in the country. (No prizes for guessing who has won the most with 16) He was also a talented singer and he practised yoga everyday. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and also the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. In all a great artist, a leading hero, a simple man. This is how he should be remembered.

In other news (or so you would think) on April 12 Bangalore broke into a frenzy. There isn't a logical reason, but the IT capital of India suddenly turned into arsonist heaven. Vandals destroyed over 100 vehicles, cars and buses, and destroyed the glass windows of many of the city's prided infrastructure. In the last two days, eight people have died. Schools, offices were all hastily shut down and millions of dollars have been lost.

I met some people in Delhi yesterday, who asked me why Bangalore was burning and who this crazy old man was? I told them who this great man was, told them I don't know why Bangalore is burning and asked him why he asked me those questions in the same sentence. What is the connection? I don't see it. If you've studied fish-bone diagrams and cause-effect analysis you will know to immediately relate things, and this I could not.

Could it be that people are sad that a great man passed away and that rioting will bring him back to life?
Could it be that people think it was unfair that a man of 78 years should have a heart attack and they are rioting against this strange phenomenon?
Could it be that they think sacrificing a city is the best way to pay their respect?
Could it be that they are so moved by his death that they have lost all sense of reality?

It doesn't matter because now Bangalore is a crazy city with mobs! Bangalore is an uncivil city. Bangalore is worse than Chennai which didn't let people kiss in public. Bangalore is not a city for decent human beings.

The great actor will not be remembered for his movies or his talents. He will be remembered as the man who caused Bangalore to shut down for a month when he was kidnapped and as the man whose death tore Bangalore apart. Shame.

I have always believed that the world is what you make of it. That how people remember you is in your hands. Unfortunately for this great thespian it will not be so.