“Gala gala gala vena siri
Andraada kavalaiyai kadaasi eri
Pasiyai maranthaan saappaatu raaman
Pakkathil irunthaan thenali raaman
Pasiyai maranthaan saappaatu raaman
Pakkathile thenali raaman
Crazy..Crazy”
My earliest memory of “Crazy” connect was this title song for one of the Madhu cheenu series, from Doordarshan. The tune was very catchy and “Gold Spot” cool drinks had something similar I guess. Wasn’t sure whether we had TV at home then, but never got to see the programme. Our neighbours, used to keep their TV volume very high and I was the Ekalavyan, who heard just the title song for those awesome laughathons. It was a weekly series I guess and the day after, in school, friends would be discussing, laughing out loud about the wisecracks from the previous day. I would be nodding off, laughing along with them, without even knowing the context. More like Joey from the Encyclopedia episode in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Many of my friends, regularly visited Narada gana sabha, where his troupe played regularly. Even though I had never seen any of his plays live, the next day commentary from friends, where more than a motivation to keep my interest growing. They were always awe struck by the wit and the non-stop jokes that I often used to run those shows on my imagination. One day while coming back from school, I saw a bald uncle, driving past my house on a kinetic majestic scooter. My neighbor who was standing nearby was mentioning to someone that it was Crazy Mohan. I immediately turned to see him again, only for him to have crossed over onto the next street. I felt so happy and proud that, I saw the great crazy mohan, in person. Next day, when I went and told it to my friends, they weren’t quite enthused. Then only realized that they might’ve seen him already numerous times on his plays. At last I felt, I had something to proudly share, which got buzzkilled. I used to see him very regularly from then on and occasionally when he would drive past on his blue Hyundai i 10, he would get stuck in traffic on our narrow lanes and I would be watching him to my heart’s content. Never had the guts to go and talk to him, even though he was just a few meters away from me. Unlike north India, where you can pray to the deity and perform your pooja by touching the idol, down south, there is always a respectful distance, even while standing within the sanctum sanctorum. It is applicable in this case as well.
I always used to read through the ad sections on Hindu paper, that listed all those dramas of S.Ve. Sekar and Crazy mohan, just for checking whether there were any new drams up coming from those two. During college days, one my class mate was a big time S.Ve.Sekar fan and used to recite most of his dialogues by heart. Once I got introduced to mp3 files, soon all their dramas found permanent residence on my play lists. I made up for the lost occasions during my school days, with a vengeance J Once when I was listening to “Meesai aanalum manaivi” on my regular commute, I literally laughed out loud on hearing the chaos around “dead body” manavaalan and how it sabotages the ongoing engagement. The way the jollu mama says “Pillyaar pithaji enna kai vidala” will make any go rolling with laughter. Whenever I see Panchathanthiram, Pammal K Sambandham, Thenali, Sadhi Leelavathi, Vasool Raja, there are always jokes that I would’ve missed, while laughing. “Poovellam kettu paar” would’ve played as many times on our house as KTV would’ve telecasted. It is a strong favorite of my mom and we never miss watching it. His “Echumi paati” , Kicha characterization on his magazine stints will remain forever waiting for their next script. After listening to the audio innumerable times, I got so much used to his word plays that it became part of my vocabulary. If I’ve to write any quip, I would hear some of his dramas, couple of times and would get into the mindset. My lifetime ambition, bucket list, call it whatever, was to meet him in person. Wasn’t sure what would be on the agenda. May be do a “Saashtaanga namaskaaram”, stand in silence in front of him and watch him talk. If I could ever manage a word out, might’ve possibly spoken about our common interest – Mylapore. His brother, Maadhu Balaji, was my college senior by several decades. Would’ve loved to hear about Mylapore of their times and how things have changed in the college of today. His relation with Cho and S.Ve.Sekar and some interesting titbits about their interactions. It gives me thrills to even think of such a meeting, which will never happen now L
Maadhu Balaji’s granddaughter is junior’s class mate. I met him yesterday, during school reopening, just couple of hours before the news broke in. When I told my family about the news, they were also equally shocked. Felt as if someone very close has passed away. It is very hard to imagine his face other than being smiley. I posted yesterday about how I idolize him yesterday and today’s one is more like a requiem!! But, as the little big man would’ve put it, take it easy, life is crazy.
Thank you sir for all the laughs.
Andraada kavalaiyai kadaasi eri
Pasiyai maranthaan saappaatu raaman
Pakkathil irunthaan thenali raaman
Pasiyai maranthaan saappaatu raaman
Pakkathile thenali raaman
Crazy..Crazy”
My earliest memory of “Crazy” connect was this title song for one of the Madhu cheenu series, from Doordarshan. The tune was very catchy and “Gold Spot” cool drinks had something similar I guess. Wasn’t sure whether we had TV at home then, but never got to see the programme. Our neighbours, used to keep their TV volume very high and I was the Ekalavyan, who heard just the title song for those awesome laughathons. It was a weekly series I guess and the day after, in school, friends would be discussing, laughing out loud about the wisecracks from the previous day. I would be nodding off, laughing along with them, without even knowing the context. More like Joey from the Encyclopedia episode in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Many of my friends, regularly visited Narada gana sabha, where his troupe played regularly. Even though I had never seen any of his plays live, the next day commentary from friends, where more than a motivation to keep my interest growing. They were always awe struck by the wit and the non-stop jokes that I often used to run those shows on my imagination. One day while coming back from school, I saw a bald uncle, driving past my house on a kinetic majestic scooter. My neighbor who was standing nearby was mentioning to someone that it was Crazy Mohan. I immediately turned to see him again, only for him to have crossed over onto the next street. I felt so happy and proud that, I saw the great crazy mohan, in person. Next day, when I went and told it to my friends, they weren’t quite enthused. Then only realized that they might’ve seen him already numerous times on his plays. At last I felt, I had something to proudly share, which got buzzkilled. I used to see him very regularly from then on and occasionally when he would drive past on his blue Hyundai i 10, he would get stuck in traffic on our narrow lanes and I would be watching him to my heart’s content. Never had the guts to go and talk to him, even though he was just a few meters away from me. Unlike north India, where you can pray to the deity and perform your pooja by touching the idol, down south, there is always a respectful distance, even while standing within the sanctum sanctorum. It is applicable in this case as well.
I always used to read through the ad sections on Hindu paper, that listed all those dramas of S.Ve. Sekar and Crazy mohan, just for checking whether there were any new drams up coming from those two. During college days, one my class mate was a big time S.Ve.Sekar fan and used to recite most of his dialogues by heart. Once I got introduced to mp3 files, soon all their dramas found permanent residence on my play lists. I made up for the lost occasions during my school days, with a vengeance J Once when I was listening to “Meesai aanalum manaivi” on my regular commute, I literally laughed out loud on hearing the chaos around “dead body” manavaalan and how it sabotages the ongoing engagement. The way the jollu mama says “Pillyaar pithaji enna kai vidala” will make any go rolling with laughter. Whenever I see Panchathanthiram, Pammal K Sambandham, Thenali, Sadhi Leelavathi, Vasool Raja, there are always jokes that I would’ve missed, while laughing. “Poovellam kettu paar” would’ve played as many times on our house as KTV would’ve telecasted. It is a strong favorite of my mom and we never miss watching it. His “Echumi paati” , Kicha characterization on his magazine stints will remain forever waiting for their next script. After listening to the audio innumerable times, I got so much used to his word plays that it became part of my vocabulary. If I’ve to write any quip, I would hear some of his dramas, couple of times and would get into the mindset. My lifetime ambition, bucket list, call it whatever, was to meet him in person. Wasn’t sure what would be on the agenda. May be do a “Saashtaanga namaskaaram”, stand in silence in front of him and watch him talk. If I could ever manage a word out, might’ve possibly spoken about our common interest – Mylapore. His brother, Maadhu Balaji, was my college senior by several decades. Would’ve loved to hear about Mylapore of their times and how things have changed in the college of today. His relation with Cho and S.Ve.Sekar and some interesting titbits about their interactions. It gives me thrills to even think of such a meeting, which will never happen now L
Maadhu Balaji’s granddaughter is junior’s class mate. I met him yesterday, during school reopening, just couple of hours before the news broke in. When I told my family about the news, they were also equally shocked. Felt as if someone very close has passed away. It is very hard to imagine his face other than being smiley. I posted yesterday about how I idolize him yesterday and today’s one is more like a requiem!! But, as the little big man would’ve put it, take it easy, life is crazy.
Thank you sir for all the laughs.
Comments