Being an extrovert, I bond with people and make friends easily. Among many friendship, some are special and some become very close to our hearts. One such special relationship of mine is with Sree Vasantha. I had known her for decades but my acquaintance with her blossomed into a ‘mom-daughter’ bond lately. Apart from our common interests and mutual admiration, she became my mentor and my guiding star in recent years. She made me see positives in any given situation and helped me make decisions when in dilemma.
Her proactive approach rubbed on my routines and I could see myself becoming even a better person than what I aspired to become. Her appreciations for my ‘Go Getter’ attitude, motivated me to achieve better. She knew my awe for Actor Rajinikanth as I had mentioned, how much the Super Star meant to me, ever since childhood.
On the 7th of August 2023, at 9am, she messaged me saying, a friend of her’s Mr. Ashok, can arrange an exclusive meet with Rajini Sir, and asked me if I wanted to go. I was left speechless but replied her an instant ‘yes’. I asked my husband and my daughter and both texted me in one word- ‘GO’. I checked the availability of ticket and almost booked my ticket, but I questioned myself- ‘Do I really want to meet Him? What am I even going to talk to the actor about- How ardent a fan I am ? How my eyes were all welled up watching the interval block in ‘Kabali’, where actress Sai Dhanshika howled in anguish, the word -‘Appppaaaa‘ ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtNxQXUffgw ) or how I teared up every time I watched the climax of ‘Mullum Malarum‘ where actress Shobha chooses her brother Rajini over the love of her life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU629VRND6c ) or the fact that He is the sole reason I became a cinephile and ended up starting my movie blog.
How could I express Him that I am a huge fan of the way he wore his spectacles with style, in the song Aagaya Gangai from Dharma Yudham ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0G2WhCEVSw ) or how much I loved his romance with Radhika in the song, Unnaithane from Nallavanukku Nallavan ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIdAyBJUgT4 )
For reasons unknown, I was indecisive and spoke to Vasantha akka again. She insisted saying- Your family has given thumbs up for you to travel, this kind of exclusive meet may not be possible through any other source in future, flight tickets are readily available, accommodation in the ashram is also available and finally I should never ever regret for not utilizing this rare opportunity. She said these were the exact words of her father, when she herself was indecisive to be in the Ashram, during the last rites of Poojya Swamiji Dhayanad Saraswathi.
She got me convinced and I rushed to book my flight tickets. Another close to my heart friend Anjugam, a regular visitor to the Ashram, volunteered to join me, just to give me company. But later when a good friend of mine Narmadha, who had been longing to visit Dhayanand Saraswathi Ashram in Rishikesh, ever since she missed the trip with our group a few years back, decided to join me, Anju asked us to carry on.
We reached the ashram and a day later, at 4pm Thalaivar was schedule to arrive. A black Mahindra SUV arrived and Mr. Ashok called me to come to the spot where the car had stopped. Rain was pouring but I rushed out of my room even without taking my umbrella and asked my friend to lock the room behind and join me. By then, the actor had gotten out of the car and was contemplating which way to move, as there were too many instructions from people around Him.
I had halted nearly 5 ft away from Thalaivar, from where I got the first glimpse of my Idol in person- my childhood hero, my very own ‘Anbulla Rajinikanth’, my Super Star. ‘Thalaivar’ was carefully looking down and watching his step, as the floor was way too slippery, while Mr. Ashok was holding the umbrella for Him.
And just when He was trying to climb down the two steps, He slightly turned his head, to look at the fascinated onlooker – ‘Me’. His eyes met mine, and before I could realize what had just happened, He smiled big, saying a ‘Hello’ and nodding in acknowledgment. The Super Star, the greatest of all times, just said a ‘Humble Hello‘ to me, just to me, not even knowing who I was. And there I stood frozen, with the biggest smile of my lifetime, so big that my lips couldn’t possibly stretch any wider and Thalaivar walked past me, to enter his room.
I could hear these ARR strings- ‘Idhu podum enakku, Idhu podhume, ver enna vendum’ in my ears and the pouring rains complemented my childhood nostalgia. By now Narmadha had brought me my umbrella and we sat in the corridor.
After that we saw Him walk the corridor in rain, to pay his respect to two Swamijis at the ashram and a brief moment later, I got a call from Mr. Ashok asking me and my friend to come to meet Rajini sir. I had rehearsed this a million times while on flight, but I was completely blank as I was climbing up the stairs to meet Him.
The moment I had a glace of Thalaivar sitting in changed clothes, a white round necked kurtha and a dhothi, I significantly felt a spiritual energy surrounding that small balcony and I was all emotional. He welcomed me with a welcoming smile, he acknowledged me and showed me the seat opposite to him, to sit down. I sat on the edge of the chair, gazing at Thalaivar. I introduced myself and my family. Told him the dean of the hospital he was admitted in, and the doctor who accompanied him abroad, were my Husband Dr. Rajasekar’s classmates from Stanley. He exclaimed with a polite smile.
I showed the pictures of his Bangalore Race Course Flat’s neighbors, who were the grandparents of a bestie of My daughter Aashika Sekar at Oxford University. He remembered Mr. Parthasarathy and his wife Indrama. When I told Him they both were no more, he was taken aback. I then showed Him their grandson’s picture, which was taken with Thalaivar in His Bangalore residence and He was pleased to see the little boy.
I went on to show a video of a trained Hindustani singer, singing ‘Baja Govindham’, and told Him that the little lad He was seen hugging in the previous photo, has grown up to become this fantastic singer with a PhD in Deep Learning from Oxford. He seemed mightily pleased. I also showed the young man’s picture with my daughter and He asked me how old they both were. When I said they were 28, he said, the little lad must have been 8 years old, when that picture was taken. I was jumping with joy on the inside and out, pinching myself and felt like yelling to the world, I really am ‘making casual talks’ to the ‘Super Star’.
Then Mr. Ashok told Rajini Sir, that I am a crazy fan of the actor and that is when I realised, I had been talking to Talaivar in English all this time. I screamed in Tamil, ‘Oh my God, why am I even talking to you in English’, and Thalaivar laughed big, looking at my expressions. Then I sat down in the chair in front of him, and of all the million things I could have told him to justify my staunch fandom to him, I chose to tell this- ‘Rajini Sir, I used to dream about you very often. You would come in disguise and buy me a pen and a pencil for my examination. I would frantically search for it before going to my exam, not realising it was just a dream’. Just when I was cursing myself for spurting out this absurd story of mine to Thalaivar, I saw the look on His face. I presumed He had realised the naivety in my narration, and He gave an ‘aww‘ smile towards me.
Ashok ji said to Thalaivar, that I have come from Salem, just to meet Rajini Sir and I am staying in the Ashram as well. Thalaivar, turned towards me to ask, ‘Oh, that’s very nice. How long are you staying?’ And there I was replying him in a sad tone, that I was scheduled to leave the next day morning. In all that excitement, my inner voice screamed in manipulation, trying to convince me to stay a couple of days more, but my inner conscious warned me that I shouldn’t get greedy and Thalaivar’s longing for solitude shouldn’t be jeopardized and indeed should be respected.
Looking at my quiet friend, He asked if we wanted a photo with Him and I jumped saying I would like to take a selfie. He said yes and I prepped myself and clicked the first one. But looking at the messy hair from the wind and the rain, I requested him one more and said- ‘Let me adjust my short hair, like how you used to do stylishly, in the movies’ and He burst into laughter. Then he posed with me for two more selfies.
Ashok ji tried taking pictures of me and my friend, with Thalaivar. Again, I said, I would like to stand next to Him and not next to my friend. He was amused and pulled me to the other side with another favorite laugh of his.
His grip was super tight and God, He was so warm, that I was puzzled if He even ran a temperature. I had this biggest smile of my lifetime, yet again. We thanked Him for his time and took His blessing before we climbed down the stair.
As I was climbing down, my gratitude for Vasantha ka grew many folds for making my dream come true and Ashok ji for choosing the right time, as there were VIPs scheduled to meet Thalaivar that evening. Weirdly I felt that I had interacted with him earlier. The warmth of the actor was very familiar, his smile, his acknowledgments, his soft voice. Oh yeah! My bald dad, five years older than the actor, with his short silver hair and affectionate eyes. It’s him. That’s the similarity that let me be me – my own hyper animated-self, around the legend, without inhibitions of any sort.
As I climbed down, all I could think of was – God, bless this man with longevity, abundant good health and peace. When I came home to Salem, my friend Malu mocked me saying, now Thalaivar would be everywhere, on all my social media profiles and wallpapers. Yes, He is omnipresent, for his fans like me, I said to myself.
Having a friend like Narmadha to accompany, who was not an avid movie goer, was a boon, as she didn’t get competitive in taking selfies or pictures with Thalaivar. All she did was accompany me and bless me such lovely pictures, which would be in my memory and on my screensavers forever. God bless her.
We both spent our evening at the 5.30pm pooja and aarthi. My mind was calm and content – Just like Thalaivar’s. The next day we tried chanting Rudhram in the 5.30am pooja, performed our Sangalpam and Biksha. Ashok ji dropped us in the airport after a quick Prasad at the Ashram. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face till I reached home, to meet My husband and narrated it all to him.