“ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮ ಶಂಕರ” (My Brother Shankar) – A biography of Shankarnag

I just read the book “ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮ ಶಂಕರ” (My brother Shankar) a biography of Shankar Nag written and narrated by his brother Anant Nag. I have always been fascinated by Shankar Nag but never had a chance to get an  insight into his short but great life period until I read ‘My brother Shankar’. Not a surprise that lakhs of people even today worship Shankar Nag as a personality worth emulating. Not because he is an actor, Shankar became common man’s hero just cause of his simplicity, his restlessness, big power dreams, ideas and projects for societal development and for being close to common man in real life and his portrayal of real life characters in various movies.

In a short span of 36 years that he lived Shankar Nag reached a height which will remain unattainable for years to come.

You step out of your home in Bangalore and you will see an Auto or a Cab with Shankar Nag’s photo.  Majority of Auto stands in Bangalore are named after Shankar Nag – a tribute for his portrayal of an auto driver in the movie Auto Raja.

An entire generation grew up watching his films, hearing about stories of his life and his tragic death. But Shankar Nag still remains as a mystery for many of us. The book is a descent attempt by Ananth Nag to reveal the life and dreams of his much celebrated brother.

Below passage sheds enough light about Shankar Nag’s thought process and his big dreams.

Narrator – Anantnag.

Shankar had a big idea in his mind. A huge project comprising many projects:

 ‘If you consider the Studio, farm house and dairy projects we didn’t get anticipated results. But we shouldn’t lose heart, we have to move on. This is what it takes to get success. Diversification!!

We should consider 4-5 projects at a time. If one fails, there will be another. All of them can’t fail. One project will be a supplement to the other, they won’t result any harm to each other.

1. First of all a country club – Let’s start a country club in our farm. Let’s take a loan and make arrangements to provide all the facilities of a club, and let’s advertise it. Thousands of people from foreign countries have come to Bangalore. They have money to spend. All the leading clubs are having waiting lists for memberships. It’s not so easy to get a membership. There are no places in and around Bangalore which would provide modern day entertainment to people. Moreover there are not enough good places to hang out with family. We will definitely get support.
   We both have earned the trust. Let’s see what we can do.

2. We visited one in Canada, do you remember? Amusement  Park!
   Let’s start a similar one near Nandi Hill Base. Different Kinds of amusements, games, toys, garden, food court – A huge picnic spot. Thousands of people would come with their families, friends and kids.
   To add color to that, there has to be a rope way from Nandi base to Nandi hill with lower ticket charges for children and slightly higher amount for adults. Lakhs of people will come from neighboring states, from other parts of country and from foreign as well. They would definitely be amused by our achievement and would be proud of Indians.
   There is one more hill near Nandi. That hill would be altered to resemble the Chamundi Hill of Mysore by laying proper roads. On top of the hill a five star hotel should be built. Off course this would only be for rich people. But think about the revenue it would earn for government.

3. There is a German technology to manufacture bricks. Those bricks are made using a mixture of chemical compounds and they last for long. Specialty is that there is no electricity required to manufacture the bricks. The brick factories use the wind mills and wind energy.  Because of this fact, the bricks would be made available at a very cheap rate and they would definitely help the middle class and lower middle class people to build their dream homes.

4. There is an Austrian technology using which houses can be built with pre fabricated sheets. A machine manufactures these sheets, several thousand sheets per day. Houses could be built in mass scale – like a thousand houses per month. They offer good resistance against wind, rain and earthquake and have a life time of 50 years.
   A house with a bedroom, hall, kitchen and bathrooms would be made available for Rs 45000. The project would help millions of people who currently reside in slums; it would also help in eradication of slums.

5. Ready wear garment factories: through which employment opportunities to thousands of people, export of manufactured garments, foreign exchange which would result in tax free national income.

6. Reconsideration of BangaloreMetro Rail Project which is in sidelines for many a years.

Shankar said all these in a breath and turned towards the air hostess and said “Two doubles please”
I didn’t speak a word. I was reluctant to break his thought process. I had my own sets of doubts but still I was wondered by Shankar’s ideas and thoughts.

Upon receiving the ordered drink, Shankar said – “Cheers brother”.

“Cheers man”

“Why are you not speaking?”

“Plan is fabulous Shankar…” 

“Stop, don’t say anything more. Just be with me. I will do the driving”

I gazed at him as if he was a stranger.

“What are you staring at?”

“Nothing, of course I am with you Shankar”.

Pick a copy of “ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮ ಶಂಕರ”, though the narration seems slow and rickety at places, sure will it offer an interesting read, inspiring as well.