Wednesday, October 22, 2008

From Krypton with love!

As a kid, I've always loved this simply superb character whom I regarded to be the King of celluloid. I must confess, that there was indeed a time not very long ago, when I refused to believe that Superman was nothing more than a product etched out of a creative mind portrayed purely for thrill and entertainment.

My fascination for this Krypton Character who landed up in Smallville began at a time when satellite television had not gained a fast pace in our lives. Had someone mentioned the name of Christopher Reeve then, I would have almost certainly dismissed it as being someone from the forgotten pages of overloaded history. It did not matter then, if I knew the name of that macho guy who flew around in blue and red overalls.

I still recall the sometimes (mostly) ugly squabbles I had in front of the Television yearning to be part of the privileged 30 minute airtime which belonged to Superman. Probably my ideology to uphold the truth in my own manner and right could well be credited to this screen icon, who I would learn years later, existed merely in print and film.

When the news of Reeve's freak accident in an equestrian competition came in 1995, I was not sure how I wanted to react. But from then on, I would rarely miss an article that featured Christopher Reeve. His marathon effort to champion the cause of the physically disabled has certainly been one of true merit and unsurpassed dedication. Today we relate to the names of Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, HealthExtras, The Creative Coalition and The National Organization on Disability because of this luminous personality.

It is indeed tough to come to terms with the fact that a man who made action portrayal a mission of his life had to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Even difficult is to comprehend how this man who suffered so much could move the world for a cause, a very good cause that is.

Not long after his disability, he was asked to be part of the honorary jury of the Academy Awards where he moved an entire audience to tears and I couldn't help shed a tear or two even though the context of his words remain unclear to me this very day.

On October 9, 2004 after attending a game of hockey participated by his Son, he slipped into coma. The end came on October 10th when he succumbed to cardiac arrest.

While America and the rest of the world would remember him as an actor par excellence, and a social reformer at best, I'd like to see him as someone who possessed in him a superhuman quality of human excellence.

Christopher Reeve is indeed an exemplary model of how one person can make a difference. He is a legend not merely for his remarkable portrayal of a Kryptonic character who never existed, but because he did what could never be done at a time when merely a thought of doing it was impossible. As he too leaves this planet, I find myself in the crowd, as one who cannot help but think of this remarkable childhood inspiration that was so much a part of my life.

I'm gonna miss him a great deal. The world is terribly short of superb people.

Little wonder they called him Superman!!!

Footnotes:

Originally written on October 12, 2004 on Oblivion Redefined

All those Superman fans out there, do visit Caped Wonder for a stellar collection of Superman imagery.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation

48 comments:

  1. Wonderful my friend, a fittin tribute to a superhero for whom i might hv bunked my evenin cricket sessions. Loved it nice very nice....

    ReplyDelete
  2. loved reading it!!

    ironical that he was paralyzed when he epitomized the character in the best way!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Rak!

    Your post intoduces me to areas, I never glimpsed of earlier...
    it was nice to read and know!

    Happy blogging!

    wishes!
    devika

    seen your comments there, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. rakesh..
    I still have the video casette...Super man 2...Before that ,Gaint Robot was my hero..the tele-serial hero for kids from Japan..But then came Superman..I played that famous music for myself when i used to jump from small trees in the backyard of my ancestral home...
    Christopher too was superman, no doubt..
    Thanks for making me remember him.
    Thanks for making me remember 'my days'when i thought I too was superman..
    J

    ReplyDelete
  5. "The world is terribly short of superb people...."

    Probably Chris lived to show that there's a 'superman' in each one of us, who - we must bring out.. - to meet the shortage?..!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. sincerely hope he flies down to mumbai to save us from goonda raj!

    ReplyDelete
  7. :O :O :O
    are you by any chance an aquarian?? or my long lost brother?? Superman was my fav fav fav actor as a child..brilliant post!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Brilliant post Rakesh, simply brilliant.

    Did you write this in 2004 ? and where?

    I am glad to have come in here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Chirag

    Yes, in those days when enjoyment was much more of a refined activity, Superman definitely had a very prominent role to play in our lives.

    Thanks for visiting and leaving me your comment

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Satheesh

    Its sad that Reeve had to be subject to such misery, and yes its quite an irony!

    Fate has its on ways of coming calling!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  11. MIP

    Thanks so much for coming and leaving me your comments!

    I was introduced to Superman via comics and the television series later. Eventually, Reeve who played the character became Superman himself.

    There was some sense of unparalleled thrill watching Superman!

    Quite an ecstatic feeling!!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  12. Devika Ma'am

    Superman, Clark Kent (his alter-indentity) and Reeve were a huge part of my childhood. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Superman back then!

    I wish he was true ;)

    Thanks as always for your comments

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kat Sir -

    "Probably Chris lived to show that there's a 'superman' in each one of us, who - we must bring out.. - to meet the shortage?"

    Undoubtedly yes, he inspired to bring out the best in us to uphold what is right and true and most importantly stand steadfast in the face of stiff opposition!

    Thanks very much for your comment

    Warm Regards

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  14. Abe

    Thanks very much for coming and leaving me your comment.

    I hope you are doing better now!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  15. Magiceye

    ;) He will rise from Krypton once again and cast away all evil! I'm sure you'll be delievered from the sinner!!!!

    Stay strong!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  16. Peter

    Thanks very much for visiting and leaving me your comment!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Swati

    A lot of us have a great affinity to Superman it seems! ;)

    Good people after all, connect to good things eh?

    btw..... Am not an aquarian ;)

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  18. Vimal

    Welcome to my space. Thanks very much for the visit and the encouraging comment.

    I wrote this post on October 12, 2004 which was 2 days after Reeve passed away!

    Back then, I used to maintain a blog on Rediff which has not been abandoned!

    The link to the post is http://almostsunday.rediffblogs.com/2004_10_10_almostsunday_archive.html

    The link is also mentioned in the footnote of this post!

    Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  19. pretty much an eye opener for me towards reeves cause i devolved myself in supermans as any other kid.........

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Prabhu

    Welcome here! Thanks very much for coming and leaving me your comment!

    Superman has always been the best!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  21. Very interesting post again. ou really do have an excellent writing style which is compulsive reading on a variety of subjects.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Babooshka

    Thanks very much for your wonderful compliment! Greatly appreciate it!

    Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'll have to come back because ittakes me a lot of time to read and understand a long text in English, sorry...
    And thank you for being one of my first "followers"!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hello Alice

    I'm sure you will definitely come up the curve. For me this is great interaction!

    Thanks so very much for visiting and also leaving me your comment!

    Also, thanks very much for being a follower!

    Warm Regards

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hello Rakesh..

    Sorry .. been thinking of paradropping at ur blog for quite some time now....

    yes... Superman... well while was always behind batman in my list... cause u know...batman no superpowers nad all..

    but yes... chirstopher reeeves is a real life hero... nothing can be said against that...

    salutes brother...

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hello Armyguy!

    Welcome here and thanks very much for leaving me your comment!

    For me nothing surpassed Superman, and the bat came later ;) and still does ;)

    Thanks once again for dropping by! Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  27. I was a BATMAN fan a long time and I still am,
    Somehow Superman didn't appeal to me till I saw the Reeve movies. He did make superman SUPER!

    But the things he's done for the Society, man he was a super man!

    Nice Post!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi Vivek

    Thanks very much for visiting! Appreciate your comments too!

    Batman was perhaps by second favourite icon after Superman. Nothing and no-one could take the place of Superman..... ;)

    Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hey! Nice post :) My fav is Batman :)
    But Reeve as a personality, i liked the guy. Nice actor and the only person the comes to my mind when I think of superman :)
    Your moral/ the end of the post was great. Its a true fact. The world does lack people like these.. Reeve was indeed a superman :)

    Nice blog! I too Am blog rolling you

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Vibhu

    Thanks very much for coming by and leaving me your comment!

    So I've had a number of Batman fans visiting recently. The bat was my second favorite icon, after Superman who stood rock solid at #1 at all times!

    Eventually Reeves and Superman were synonymous to me! I miss those days :)

    Thanks again for visiting and also for blogrolling me.

    Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi Sachin

    I am doing well. Thanks!
    Welcome here and thanks for leaving me your appreciating comment!

    I will visit your blog!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  32. Have been wanting to visit this Krypton, for a long long time, since I first visited this space, but well, Jonathan won the day then :)

    Another Superman Fan.. not just a fan, but an admirer of the real superman, Christopher Reeve, signing in :) Superman I was amazing.. grew up with it, and Superman II was equally good, though the human side of emotions that affect him in the third part was difficult for me to digest.. :) He was too much of a hero, to make him one such as this :D!!

    Still, it's wonderful the way you brought back some great treasured memories and refreshed my mind! Thank you!

    And I must repeat :) You have a natural, easy manner of articulation that is at once personal and objective, in its summing up:) Great going!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Great tribute to a man I loved and admired eversince I first set my eyes on him in Superman!

    RIP Reeves ur beautiful memory lives forever!

    Keshi.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Just dropped by again, propelled by a certain coincidence.. :) After I logged out late in the night, last night [I should call it early morning..:)].. I just switched on the telly, to find, Superman II .. on HBO! How much utterly connected can one feel to this, I wonder:) I am reminded of Bach's [Richard Bach, of course:)] words, in "Illusions" about how certain things/ events/ people/ little incidents come and touch our lives because they are meant to...
    Sorry, I'd have liked to give you the exact words, but I cannot jog my memory just now :)

    Delighted, just delighted:)

    ReplyDelete
  35. He was a real superman.

    gr8 gr8 tribute my hero..

    nice blog mate

    ReplyDelete
  36. lol..thts okay dude...like u are a superman fanbuy i am a batman one.... hhehe

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Usha

    Thanks as ever for your visit and appreciative comments! Superman has always been my most favourite screen icon of all time.

    Its a tragedy that Reeves who immortalized Superman had to be a victim of cruel fate and restricted for a decade! Quite an irony!

    Thanks very much for being so encouraging! I'm thrilled!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi Keshi

    Thanks indeed!

    I miss Superman Reeve! He certainly didn't deserve what happened to him!

    But then life is very strange, isn't it?

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi Vicky

    Welcome here! Thanks for visiting and leaving me your comment!

    Indeed, he was a real Superhero!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hi Rahul

    Welcome here! Thanks very much for visiting and leaving me your comment!

    Appreciate it!

    Yes, Reeve was a real-time Superhero for his efforts from 1994 despite his massive disability

    Warm Regards

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  41. I am not a fan of superman, but to tell superman there is magic and something only exist in dream brought to visible through him alone. Nice tribute and your expression to him.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Thanks Jeevan for your visit and an appreciative comment! Superman was indeed magic and appealed to fans and non-fans alike!

    To me he signified courage, truth and of course superhuman effort

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  43. Beautiful post, Rakesh!

    A very fitting tribute to the "man of steel" (if I'm not wrong he was also called that) ..

    Thank you for this! I too love superman.. but got introduced to it very late.. after Mr. Reeve died.

    Thank you once again, mate!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thanks so much Sadho! Glad you liked it!

    Yes, he was called man of steel as a true remark of how strong willed he was!

    ReplyDelete