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A temple for his idol
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There are fans and fans. And there is Gajarajan aka Rosemars
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The King is god to Gajarajan.
KHUSHBOO'S HAD it, Amitabh's had it, Bob Marley's had it and now Elvis Presley and Princess Diana will get one each. An award? No, too boring. A temple, no less. Gajarajan, a Presley nut and former P&T Department employee, plans to build a temple to these two icons. Rosemars, as Gajarajan calls himself after Elvis's favourite flower, has taken adulation to new heights. Having made a Kannada movie, Dhara, in 1984 with a song on Elvis thrown in, he keeps a portrait of the rock 'n' roll pioneer in his pooja room, religiously observing his idol's birth and death anniversaries.
He has floated the Sri Arun Vani Trust and plans to build an Elvis Memorial Welfare Centre in Bangalore. He hopes this will eventually fulfil his dream of a grand temple for his idols, probably in Hennur, Chikkabanavara or Devanahalli. He did build an Elvis shrine at Devalapura, but it's too small for The King. Now he wants a grand double in the region of half a crore rupees, which he hopes to raise from Elvis and Diana fans.
In the twin temples, he sees a confluence of the USA and Britain. "If only Elvis were to sing "Candle in the Wind"," he exclaims, "I can feel the goose pimples on me."
"It was Scotty Moore's "Guitar Riff" when he was doing the Steve Allen's show that got me into music. I have been an Elvis fan since I was a kid," says Gajarajan, who pretty much dresses up in Elvis fashion. He believes Elvis is the reincarnation of Karna, no less. In his book, Why My Daughter Married Michael Jackson, Gajarajan claims Elvis had spoken to him from another dimension about daughter Lisa Marie who married Wacko Jacko. Explaining the couple's divorce, he writes: "She married a musician of her father's calibre and not Jackson per se."
Gajarajan, who has visited Germany to see the house where Elvis met Priscilla,
has been celebrating Elvis's birthday by holding secular prayers, performing Elvis aradhané, playing his music, feeding and clothing the poor, distributing sweets to children, all topped with a mangalarathi to Elvis.
He marks Elvis's death anniversary as "protest, request and compassion day", dedicated to distribution of fruits and giving solace to patients in hospitals. He visits the Tawkkal Mastan Dharga, Sacred Heart Church, and the Draupadiamman Temple on the day. Only Elvis's songs can cure the country of communal disharmony, he says, pointing as an example the King's 1968 number: "If I can dream of a better world where all my brothers walk hand in hand, Oh God, why can't my dream come true, there must be bright light burning somewhere where all my brothers walk hand in hand."
With his Sri Arun Vani Trust, Gajarajan plans to treat drug addicts, alcoholics, geriatrics, mentally challenged, and provide shelter to stray and wounded animals. He says he has the support of his family and friends in his ventures. He has managed to convert Chandrappa, a landlord, who has also become an ardent Elvis fan.
M.V. CHANDRASHEKAR
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
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Kochi
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