Chennai: “Dr MGR Vaazhga.” “Puratchi Thalaivar Vaazhga.” – a group of women raised slogans amidst a sea of crowd which visited the MGR Garden, the residence of former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, at Ramapuram on his 102nd birth anniversary today.
By 7 am, this otherwise peaceful place where you could hear only the chirping of birds and workers brooming the floor, saw a huge bunch of visitors from all over the State.
Everywhere you turn, all you can hear is MGR songs and all you can see is his enthusiastic followers. Yes, even more than three decades after his death, the josh among his fans has not yet dropped even a bit. People mostly from Salem, Dharmapuri, Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi marched to Chennai to get the darshan (that’s what they say) of MGR at the place where he lived.
“Every year we used to visit Ramapuram. This is like a temple for us. MGR is still living with us. He is in our blood, in our nerves and in our soul. We visit Chennai once in a year and that is only on MGR’s birthday. We will come here, sit at his feet, then we will go to Marina, visit his memorial place and will take bus to our village. This is our every year routine,” says a group of women from Salem.
ONCE UPON A TIME…
“This place used to be the power-centre of Tamilnadu politics. A lot of prominent political decisions were taken here. A number of political leaders made a beeline to this house. Such is the power of this place,” says Sudha Vijayakumar, the adopted daughter of MGR.
She further says, “Even today, many of his fans who consider this place as a temple, visit here and pray at his memorial. It is a true blessing to see people’s never ending love for him.”
SECOND SUNDAYS AND MGR
“Janaki Amma and MGR raised me with much love. No matter how busy he is, every month, second Sundays were for family,” she says. “One whole day he will spend with us. I remember him cooking special dishes for us. He will take us to the backyard, make us sit in line and serve the food hot. He will not only prepare food for us but for all our servants too,” Sudha recalls.
“Right from the young age he taught us how to respect others. He will make sure I call all our servants, ‘Anna’ or ‘Akka’. He encouraged all of us to study well. He used to say for any woman sports and education are must. Personally, he loved Silambam. He even taught us this art,” she adds.
MOVIE TIME BEST TIME
“At that time, every weekend, Doordarshan used to air a Hindi film and a Tamil movie. When Checha’s (MGR) movie is up, he will sit and watch it with us. I remember Checha singing the songs of Rikshakaaran along with us,” Sudha states with joy.
‘JUNIOR MGR’ READY
MGR’s grandson, Ramachandran stepped into film industry in 2017. Today, his upcoming movie’s pooja took place. The film was titled Kuravan. “It was a great blessing that my movie’s pooja happened on this day. To know that I played in his hands and grew under him itself is a pride for me. I wish, his blessings stay with me forever and take me forward in my career” says Ramachandran.
POLITICAL VENTURE?
Asked whether he (Ramachandran) would step into politics too following the footsteps of his grandfather, he says, ‘”As of now, my full concentration will be on acting. People should recognise me first. Like MGR, I also should earn their love. Other than that, I have not thought about my political venture so far and I have no idea about it right now.”
HE IS MY GOD: SRIKANTH DEVA
The musician for the film, Srikanth Deva, while talking about MGR, says, “He is my God. I thought I was the only one who played his songs sentimentally everytime before I composed music. But, later I came to know that most of the directors, musicians and other film technicians start their work by playing his movie scenes or dialogues. No doubt he is a Godfather for all of us. Now, I take pride in working for his grandson’s movie. I am confident that the album will be the hit of the year.”
BIG DAY
As part of MGR’s birthday celebrations, a State level Silambam competition was held today and the prize distribution will happen later today. Annadhanam for all the visitors is taking place. Cultural programmes have also been arranged on this special day.