Huttidare Kannada Naadalli Huttabeku , Mettidare Kannada Manna Mettabeku, Badukidu Jataka Bandi....
If you had to be born, you should've been born in the land of Kannada, If you must be somewhere, it should be on the soil of the land of Kannada, life is like a bullock cart,...
Listen to the song by selecting the song Huttidare, Kannada Nadu
He was, and he lived and breathed and died in the land of Kannada. He passed away on April 12, 2006(13.45 IST) following a cardiac arrest on Wednesday afternoon in M S Ramaiah hospital, Bangalore.
After which people obligingly burned tires on roads, shut down businesses and generally declared mourning.
Now I'm not what you would call a fan of the man. I roll with Upendra's posse. But even I must stop for a minute and remember the moments of his life. There is the song that changed my whole image of the man, that goes along the lines of "Nan yejmandru..." I heard it only in bits and pieces, sung by Omkar while he was initiating us into the wonderful world of kannada music, but it made an indelible impression on me. Even now, I get the heebiejeebies, mind you, thats the heebiejeebies, remembering "nan yejmandru.....".
The next time I had a chance to get to hear about him was when Veerappan did my sister a favor by kidnapping him for more than 3 months. While Rajkumar might have been famous in Karnataka before that, this was the real showstopper that ensured he made it to the national stage, and all for going Survivor on Veerappan's team. The usual mayhem ensued in Bangalore, and spring break came again for all the kids as schools were closed for two weeks. Meanwhile, kannadigas took out processions and vilified tamilians and lit pyres in the streets with Veerappan effigies.
and that really was all he ever did for me, until I downloaded "Huttidare" While it's nowhere near the quality of "If You Come Today", it shows the pure versatility of the man as he makes an impassioned peal for us to fall in love with Karnataka all over again. Life truly is a bullock cart, so pour some gomuthra out for our beloved annavaru.
here's a video of the man in his prime.
and here are the lyrics
I've found a last interview with the mannina maga for you.
