You are truly wealthy when you have been
enriched by Life’s lessons – when you have gotten better and not bitter with
Life’s experiences!
 |
| Sowcar Janaki: Picture Courtesy - Internet |
Last evening, as part of
the Madras Week celebrations, we had an opportunity to interact with Sowcar
Janaki, the South-Indian superstar of the 50s and 60s. Janaki made her debut in
1949 in the Telugu film, opposite N.T.Rama Rao, Shavukar (the title means wealthy person; and its corrupt version
in Tamil is Sowcar) – the film was a
big hit, it was remade in Tamil, and she has since been known as Sowcar Janaki!
Janaki, at 84 (she will
be 85 this December; she shares her birthday with Rajnikant – December 12),
oozes charm, is full of energy and is, simply, alive to the moment. Her career
spans 67 years and she’s still active – she’s currently shooting for a Telugu
film in Hyderabad.
After the story of her
Life and films was presented by noted film historian Mohan Raman, Sowcaramma
shared some nuggets of wisdom in response to questions from the audience. Each
answer of hers is a learning, a Life lesson for us to reflect upon and imbibe:
Q: Has
being a linguist (she knows several Indian languages and speaks impeccable English
with a proper British accent) helped you through your career?
A: Absolutely. But it is
not about just knowing languages. It is about your willingness to learn. I am
still learning.
Q: Your
immediate family did not allow you to join films when you were still unmarried.
You proved everyone wrong by joining films after your child was born. What were
the naysayers’ reactions to you after you became a star?
A: Survival teaches you
many things. Among them is the need to be true to yourself and not worry about
what others have to say. I simply shut myself out to the opinions of others. I
needed to join films because I needed to earn money to provide for my family.
As long as I was doing what I was good at to be a bread-winner I did not see
any value in considering what others had to say. Yes, they all flocked to me
after I made it big. But by then my experiences had taught me how to not put
down people while still keeping them at a distance.
Q: How
does a day in your Life look like?
A: Why? (Laughs) I am
just an ordinary human being. I work in films. Just as others work elsewhere. I
learnt early on not to cling on to fame and name. I know one day you will be
stripped off everything – your name, your fame, your money, your glory – all this
will go. I cook. I potter around my garden. I don’t have anyone do anything for
me that I can do myself. So I lead a fairly active day. I always count my
blessings – fortunately at my age, I don’t have a sugar factory (diabetes) or
an oil factory (cholesterol). And I have this audience in front of me. Aren’t
these blessings? I consider myself very lucky!
Her nickname may be
Sowcaramma. But she’s wealthier than the most materially rich person in the
world. Because she has the wealth of wisdom gained from a lifetime of
experiences! If
you internalize the essence each of her answers in the context of your Life,
you too may just grow a wee bit richer than you already are!
No comments:
Post a Comment