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I can feel a burst of tears trying to come out of my eyes, as I listen to the song "Gudugudiya Sedi Nodo" by Raghu Dixit Project . "This song, written by Saint Shishunaala Sharif, a 19th century spiritual poet of North Karnataka, urges the listener to smoke a Hookah (a smoking pipe) to understand how one should lead life! Open the small cloth bag called mind, pull out the hash called greed/lust, crush it in a chillum called faith and light it with a fire called intelligence, Smoke that Hookah, he says" (Source : http://raghudixit.com/discography).
I can't believe a song written by a seemingly unknown poet nearly 200 years ago, is striking many a chord even now . . . and striking it is as if one would never forget it !
I am simply marveled by the power of music. Saint Shishunaala Sharif is an unknown figure to the present generation. The only memory I have about this great poet is during a fancy dress competition when I was in Class 4 or 5. One of the participants had imitated him, and as he was a good singer, had sung a song written by the poet which later had fetched him the first prize.

I cant help but feel the Raghu Dixit Project has paid a great tribute to this poet by popularising fe w of his songs.

I don't know why my heart grows weak and my eyes fill with tears whenever I hear of such people. . . I kind of tend to consider them as ordinary people who belong to an extraodrinary world (yeah I flicked it from one of Shah Rukh's interviews). These are ordinary people who have been quietly doing some incredible stuff without worrying about recognition. They don't mind if anyones listening to them or whether they are getting paid for what they are doing . They are simply doing it because they like it . . . You can either put them on the throne or ignore them, but they won't stop whatever they are doing .

Another person who belongs to the same league, is late H. Narasimhaiah, more famous as an educationist and known fondly as HN to the hundreds of former and current students of National High School and the National College (An educationist, these days is more seen as an entrepreneur (sigh). Please don't make the mistake of putting him under the same light ! ).He was a simpleton, stayed in his small hostel room in the college premises till his death and even had deposited his own money in the bank for conducting his last rights. He was a man who lived a life of a bachelor, stuck to his roots and ideals even while abroad, came back unscathed and worked unassumingly for the society . Can we find such educationists today ???? We can't.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to study at his institution (which would have allowed me to observe and possibly interact with this great man more closely . . . something I regret not doing even to this day !).

The likes of Saint Shishunaala , HN, and many more who have made us see the world in a different perspective should never be forgotten ! They remind me of the purest souls that you can ever imagine who knew nothing but what they were meant to do . . .

I am sure I have spoken enough un-connected sentences in this post. Blame it on my abnormal emotional quotient that sometimes shoots up without control . . .