#2
Not many get the opportunity. I am one among the very few fans who was fortunate enough to meet the Superstar, yes Rajinikanth. It is amazing how his real life is so different from what we get to see on screen. It is stardom that many have only dreamt of. Yet, that dosen't show in his real life persona.
Rajinikanth is clearly a league above stars of his level in the sister industries. So how did I get to meet him? It was 2010 when I was in my 11th grade. GVC (Group Vocational Course) was a subject we had in school. We hardly had GVC classes as most of them were converted to English classes as the same teacher was incharge of both subjects. We had to do a project for the dumbest subject we had. The topic goes 'Living Legends'. It was an insignificant project for an unimportant subject. Scribblings on sheets of paper torn from books could make an 'A' grade GVC project. But we had different ideas. Yes Rajinikanth was our Living Legend and we met him as part of the project. The project had to be done in teams of four. Teams were chosen based on that day's seating arrangement and that is where luck favoured me. Hareshwar, a classmate (son of a very influential person) found himself sitting next to me unusually. He was a back bencher. He had come next to me only because the guy who usually sat there was absent on that day. He could get almost anything done. Want to meet Rajinikanth? Yeah done.
So that's how we got to meet him. I readied the project in half an hour as I got home that day. Yes I had scribbled too but on A4 sheets. Three sheets that contained a quarter of Rajinikanth's Wikipedia page made my project. It was enveloped with a beautiful poster from his yet-to-be-released- movie then, Endhiran.
On the following day as I walked into the classroom, I was surprised to see Hareshwar come to school so early. He was known for the drama he created in the first period having come late. He told me and my fellow team guys who had just arrived "We are going to meet Rajini at 10". The three of us gave cliched reactions, "Apdiya?" "Epidi da?" "Dei sama da!".
And so we walked out of the class (individually like a boss) at 9. We were given permission by the principal to leave the campus. We were on a roll. As I said, Hareshwar had extrordinary resources.
Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam was where Rajinikanth had his meditation sessions. We were scheduled to meet him there right after his session. We walked into a room in the top most floor of the building accompanied by police constables. The room had two doors both of which were closed as we sat there waiting for the Superstar to finish meditating. We were given glasses of Lassi when the 'other door' was opened, opened by..... Rajinikanth. He glanced at the four of us dressed in school uniform and said, "Wanga" in typical Rajini style and shook hands with each one of us.
And so we walked into his meditation hall. Dressed in a plain White Kurta, with rubber slippers and wearing a watch with 'Om' written in the dial, stood Rajinikanth as the 'influential father' reminded Rajinikanth of his first meeting with him.
It truly isn't exaggeration when people cite him as an example for the epitome of simplicity.
It was time to show our project. Embarrassed, I handed over the file to Rajini. He smiled at the cover picture and quickly turned through the three pages. It contained nothing that could surprise him. He signed on the cover page as new ideas popped into my mind now. We were going to add another page to the biggest project ever, an Interview with Rajini. Responding to my friend's query about the secret of his success he replied saying it was sheer hard work and about using opportunities as and when they come. When I asked him what his advice to his fans would be, he said it is important to always try to be the best in what you do, one should never feel inferior and should have faith in god. He took these questions very seriously. When asked, he listened carefully with a shrunken forehead. We didn't ask him anything new, yet he listened and answered with interest.
It was time to click some pictures with the Superstar. The four of us stood next to him, two on either side. After two clicks he suggested we could come individually and that he had the time. It was now a dream come true. The photographer couldn't resist asking Rajini for a click and Rajini gladly agreed with a smiling face.
It is not for his kind gestures that I call him simple and down to earth. It is for everything that I had seen. Right from the way the man dressed to the manner in which he spoke to us, it was clear the Superstar is a simple person. He probably feels what he has achieved is nothing extrordinary and that his stardom is a gift from god. He is the most celebrated person in the country. His then-upcoming movie was the biggest in the continent. Nothing showed. He was like an ordinary person, a star who had surrendered to some power above him that he had seen.
The fifteen minutes I still cherish had come to an end. He walked out of the room waving at us, down the stairs and into his Ambassador car.
Not many get the opportunity. I am one among the very few fans who was fortunate enough to meet the Superstar, yes Rajinikanth. It is amazing how his real life is so different from what we get to see on screen. It is stardom that many have only dreamt of. Yet, that dosen't show in his real life persona.
Rajinikanth is clearly a league above stars of his level in the sister industries. So how did I get to meet him? It was 2010 when I was in my 11th grade. GVC (Group Vocational Course) was a subject we had in school. We hardly had GVC classes as most of them were converted to English classes as the same teacher was incharge of both subjects. We had to do a project for the dumbest subject we had. The topic goes 'Living Legends'. It was an insignificant project for an unimportant subject. Scribblings on sheets of paper torn from books could make an 'A' grade GVC project. But we had different ideas. Yes Rajinikanth was our Living Legend and we met him as part of the project. The project had to be done in teams of four. Teams were chosen based on that day's seating arrangement and that is where luck favoured me. Hareshwar, a classmate (son of a very influential person) found himself sitting next to me unusually. He was a back bencher. He had come next to me only because the guy who usually sat there was absent on that day. He could get almost anything done. Want to meet Rajinikanth? Yeah done.
So that's how we got to meet him. I readied the project in half an hour as I got home that day. Yes I had scribbled too but on A4 sheets. Three sheets that contained a quarter of Rajinikanth's Wikipedia page made my project. It was enveloped with a beautiful poster from his yet-to-be-released- movie then, Endhiran.
On the following day as I walked into the classroom, I was surprised to see Hareshwar come to school so early. He was known for the drama he created in the first period having come late. He told me and my fellow team guys who had just arrived "We are going to meet Rajini at 10". The three of us gave cliched reactions, "Apdiya?" "Epidi da?" "Dei sama da!".
And so we walked out of the class (individually like a boss) at 9. We were given permission by the principal to leave the campus. We were on a roll. As I said, Hareshwar had extrordinary resources.
Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam was where Rajinikanth had his meditation sessions. We were scheduled to meet him there right after his session. We walked into a room in the top most floor of the building accompanied by police constables. The room had two doors both of which were closed as we sat there waiting for the Superstar to finish meditating. We were given glasses of Lassi when the 'other door' was opened, opened by..... Rajinikanth. He glanced at the four of us dressed in school uniform and said, "Wanga" in typical Rajini style and shook hands with each one of us.
 |
| Superstar shaking hands after entering from the 'other door' |
And so we walked into his meditation hall. Dressed in a plain White Kurta, with rubber slippers and wearing a watch with 'Om' written in the dial, stood Rajinikanth as the 'influential father' reminded Rajinikanth of his first meeting with him.
It truly isn't exaggeration when people cite him as an example for the epitome of simplicity.
It was time to show our project. Embarrassed, I handed over the file to Rajini. He smiled at the cover picture and quickly turned through the three pages. It contained nothing that could surprise him. He signed on the cover page as new ideas popped into my mind now. We were going to add another page to the biggest project ever, an Interview with Rajini. Responding to my friend's query about the secret of his success he replied saying it was sheer hard work and about using opportunities as and when they come. When I asked him what his advice to his fans would be, he said it is important to always try to be the best in what you do, one should never feel inferior and should have faith in god. He took these questions very seriously. When asked, he listened carefully with a shrunken forehead. We didn't ask him anything new, yet he listened and answered with interest.
It was time to click some pictures with the Superstar. The four of us stood next to him, two on either side. After two clicks he suggested we could come individually and that he had the time. It was now a dream come true. The photographer couldn't resist asking Rajini for a click and Rajini gladly agreed with a smiling face.
The fifteen minutes I still cherish had come to an end. He walked out of the room waving at us, down the stairs and into his Ambassador car.
 |
| The legendary team with Rajinikanth, the second one from the left being Hareshwar. |
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