Mr. Srinivasan, I cannot but agree with you wholeheartedly. I too remember watching the movie 'Piravi' and immediately remembered the story as soon as I read the first few lines of your article! Such was the impact of the movie I saw almost a decade ago! I did not know of the passing away of this man untill I read your article.
Very true that we have an ugly culture of hero-worshipping in our country and most of them are nothing more than props in our society.
I wish we were more mature and aware as citizens. It really pains me to see a whole city shut down due to the death of a film star, people taking intrest in current event only if they are patronised by leading movie stars, etc. No wonder then no true heros are ever recogonised in this land of ours. The only heros we have are those underperforming cricketers to useless film stars and overrated politicians.
A very well written article. I wonder where are our true heroes: in the films, in politics or amongst the religious mafia.
Hope one day India will wake up once again and not only recognize our thousands of heros, who made great sacrifices for the country and for valid causes and of which our history is full and our nation will recognize them and will honour them. But it would appear that those heros have conveniently been forgotten by our present crop of intellectuals, crorepatis and the powers that be.
Independent India has erected memorials for the fallen heroes of the Independence movement. Every town has statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru ,Sardar Patel and many others. There are even statues many local leaders of the Independence Struggle.We have war memorials for our brave fallen soldiers.We remember their contributions of their lives by dedicating a day in their memory. These Heroes are official. Our constitution makers sought to build a confident, resurgent India founding on the values of truth, equality before law, freedom from exploitation and violence in all forms , respect for law, and dignity of all citizens. We have been independent for the past 59 years and, yet we find perversion of these values by our very brother citizens making life and property unsafe for everyone save themselves. There are vast numbers of our brethren suffering injustice and exploitation, even as we demand an equitable and just international order. There are examples, though, of ordinary men, women and children doing their duty while putting their lives and property at great danger. These are our unsung heroes. In discharging their responsibility they have, without fear and favour, boldly confronted people hell bent on eliminating them and striking terror in those wanting to follow their path . A lot many people are too weak to follow what is right to seek justice. These heroes are variously called whistle blowers, headstrong people, eccentrics and many other epithets but never heroes. Who would now remember a Satyendra Dubey, or a Manjunath who died unsung doing their duty steadfastly. These heroes have set shining examples of courage and the least that the nation can do is to create a fitting memorial for these heroic souls where people can visit and reaffirm the faith and draw inspiration in their own lives. Every nation has its heroes who become the rallying point for generations to come. Its time that we in India recognize and salute our heroes; lest we forget.
its a shame. we really have ignored an important step in nation building. to celebrate our real heros. and thanks to the scoundrel of a media and our english education system
karunakaran will probably never experience the right kind of justice he deserved post ' rajen case' and he never will. he might be laughing ever since, but if you are reading this, karunkaran or any of ur cronies, ur soul has also been disowned by the devil himself....u have created a new definition for the word ' conniving'
Great Rajeev What a tribute to this humane personality who passed away.I remeber as primary school kid going through malayalam dailes with pictures of warriers eyes filled with tears. Last day when I saw the same picture miles away sitting in the middle east scrampling through the net ,as you said it brought the remeberance of my ageing father. Perhaps the days are near for the king maker to be blessed by lord Guruvayoorapan on his political martyrdom and a befitting reply from a pious and honourable Eachara warrier.
