 When success sits lightly
I ran into three personalities of varying degrees of celebrityhood in different fields last week. Each of them is impressive not only with the quality of his or her work but also for possessing the uncommon quality of humility. The first was Janaki Viswanathan, the young film-maker who has achieved early success in her burgeoning career, taking a male dominated field by storm by the realism and credibility of her films. Her maiden effort was 'Kutty', about a girl child forced by circumstances to leave her village home and work in the city. The second was about a young man whose Devadasi mother comes to him after trying her luck in films in Bombay
and turning to prostitution. Beset by a dilemma to choose between his mother and his pregnant wife, he accepts his mother back.
I first saw Janaki Viswanathan at close quarters at a screening of a film she has made for Doordarshan in a series entitled Katha Shikhar. 'Chandrikaiyin Kathai' is based on a novel in verse by Subramania Bharati, written when he was barely 22 or so. It is about a young widow who remarries to fulfil a vow she makes to her sister-in-law on her deathbed. It is an interesting story written with the fervour of the poet, idealist and nationalist that young Bharati was.
The director has captured the spirit of Bharati's rebellion and iconoclasm in a few of the film's more telling scenes, though parts of the film sag a bit under the limitations of a typically low-budget exercise, with ill-rehearsed actors and inadequate preparation the culprits in an otherwise genuine, sensitive effort by the award-winning director. Janaki Viswanathan was honest and humble enough to admit the shortcomings of the film and accept well-meant criticism from knowledgeable observers in the right spirit. Here is someone whose head it seems success cannot turn.
Another young person with his head screwed on right is Lakshmipathi Balaji, the medium pace bowler, who not long ago, was threatening to become India's leading strike bowler, before a couple of serious injuries laid him low. Balaji is a very determined character and I am sure he will be back in the thick of action soon giving a tough fight to the likes of Munaf Patel, Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan for a place in the Indian squad. He very sportingly agreed to be the chief guest at the final of a cricket tournament among naval officers in Chennai at the picturesque venue of Mayajaal, where he was the cynosure of all eyes, with his smart mufti turnout and winning ways. He sports a huge smile and exudes goodnatured optimism which seems his way of countering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. He won many
friends and admirers among the amateur cricket enthusiasts whose efforts he wholeheartedly appreciated and encouraged on a hot Sunday afternoon.
Bombay Jayashri never fails to amaze me with her complete lack of airs for someone who has achieved fame and fan following in her field. I was privileged to listen to her eyes-closed singing for an hour at a private gathering on the occasion of the first death anniversary of a common friend. Singing to the accompaniment of that consummate violin artist R K Shriramkumar—and no percussion—she moved everyone to tears with her sincere homage to the departed soul. As the participants in the memorial observed, it was a fitting tribute to a dear one's memory, particularly as the songs Jayashri chose that morning were the lady's favourites among the stupendous oeuvre of Carnatic music's celebrated trinity of composers. Jayashri is not only one of our most accomplished musicians, she is also a warm and caring
human being. A true champion.
V Ramnarayan
vramnarayan@gmail.com
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