P B Srinivos - RIP

There are more than 800 entries or posts as they call them, are there in this blog.
I write about many things.
I write about people also.
Interestingly I found out something peculiar.
Whenever a famous person passes away, people search for details on the net.
Recently when such a person passed away my blog witnessed more than 1000 page hits!

I wrote about that person long back when he was hale and hearty!
I write about people because I like their works, be they artists or writers.
Goodness's sake, I write so that people know about them.
I don't intend my blog to turn an obit column.

I have written a few lines about my good friend Sri P B Srinivos a few days back.
I only have not posted the same in the blog.
I am sure I also wrote why I am thinking about this man all of a sudden!
I think Srinivos wanted me to write about him!
Alas! It appears he is no more!

My blog now is sure an obit column!
I don't mind it for this great man's sake!

Read what I have written.

"Turn around and have a look at the life. Experiences and memories would bring the past before you," goes a Telugu film song. I remember the song is rendered by none other than Sri P B Srinivos. Yes, that is how he spells his name.

People used to call him Srinivoice! He had a title kind of thing which would roughly mean one who lives in his voice!

We were walking on the side of the road. I mean I was walking along this great man P B Srinivos. Some youngsters crossed us went forward. In a couple of moments they almost shrieked and turned back. One of them said “It is Srinivas!” loudly. They greeted him and I could see the sense of awe in their eyes. I was walking along that giant of a man! Even physically he is a well built and burly man! Srinivas used to visit our office frequently whenever he was in Hyderabad, that is. And he would make it a point to spend a lot of time with me during those visits.

Not many know that P B Srinivas was very fluent with Urdu and was a poet of class in that language. His pen name or Takhallus as it is known was Shabaz Kokonadi. He hails from Kakinada after all! That is Kokonada and he is a Kokonadi! I used to be the audience for his latest poems in Urdu. I knew a smattering of the language and would understand the poems though not with the intricacies. That is the one reason I was his chosen friend.

Srinivos would come with his almost dirty fur cap and a bundle of notebooks. He would read and sing from those books. Somehow he never believed in using a bag for the mini library he carries. He would precariously balance all of them with one hand and gesticulates while talking. Srinivos’s sister Smt Mani was living somewhere around Barkatpura. So, the gentleman makes a proposal of walking home instead of taking an auto or a bus. It was always fun walking on the roads with a celebrity.

PB was a scholar of sorts. He knew many languages. I still remember the new meter in Telugu poetry that he proposed and composed a poem in it. He would be ready to sing any composition even in Sanskrit with right breaks and intonations. It was a pleasure discussing poetry either of Urdu or other languages with him.

I remember his really thick glasses through which his eyeballs appear grotesque. Srinivos talks animatedly making his persona really interesting. I was lucky to spend a lot of time with this genius.

He grew old and even senile. When last met, he looked fit physically. He did not recognize me. No regrets. I tried to introduce myself and remind him of our discussions. He put up a face as if he very much remembers me. But, it was very clear he lost his mental faculties or at least the memory. No regrets again.

We know many people and celebrities would be on the list. No wonder. The celebrities knowing us, is something interesting. I don’t know why all of a sudden Srinivos came on to the minds screen and smiled at me. May be he was thinking about me!

I was looking for a song to go with this post!
Now that the great man is gone, I maintain silence for a while, no songs! At least today!