Glancing through the notifications in my dashboard i came across a blog by ixedoc regarding a common friend-devdas hegde-yes i do agree his was a wasted life-in the sense that at a certain period of time he was the don of a district-but a don with a difference-a throwback to medieval ages-when you carve a space for yourself with the strength of your personality and the strength of your arms.
                                 I am going back in time to 1968-i was school pupil leader in manipal high school-after an earlier
education in chennai-and after a petty fight in the school i saw two boys i knew smashing windows-and when i was asked by the school authorities-i mentioned the names-as a result of which these two boys were suspended-i was a person with his nose buried in a book-not aware of the real world-the news was this six foot tall local goonda called devdas has been suspended and is out for revenge.
                                                   The next morning starting off to school, i was interrupted  by a 6 foot devdas hegde
standing in my path and demanding to know from me a 5 foot weakling at that time whether i was the snitch.
Shivering in anticipation of a beating-i said yes.He just smiled-shook my hand and walked off.
This was the reason for the suspension of devdas hegde from school that ixedoc was talking about.That was the beginning of one of the most unlikeliest friendships one could imagine-between a person who became a don and someone who depended on his intellect to stay out of trouble.
 -                           I do agree that devdas hegdes was a wasted life because if you trace the career of his subordinates -one is a multimillionaire having discreetly smuggled silver and gold and now is head of firm with huge earth moving machinery-another is a 4 time mla and former minister-yet another is also a 3 time mla-the list is endless.Why did this person who was at one time the protector of the pais of manipal die unprotected in a small arrack joint? The reason is that this person was a throwback to medieval ages-when one imposed oneself by sheer personal strength-an anachronism in an age when a small pistol makes up for lack of personal strength-and also the difference between a thinking don-who goes backstage and allows others to do the dirty work.
                                         Why am i a successful surgeon writing this blog about a person who by all normal standards was a misfit-i would like to develop the story from the time i was a snitch-i went into medical college-and as a popular debater ,writer and college cricket captain was proposed for presidentship of the college union-and my opponent was mr.moneybags from mumbai-istarted to get a lot of threats.In trepidation ,i approached my old schoolmate and asked for help. without any violence-he just walked around with me and all the threats against me disappeared.
                 This was a man born a few centuries too late-once when he alone riding on a motor bike was confronted 
by the head of a religious institution with a lorry load of goondas seeking to avenge a percieved insult to a particular community-answered-our surnames are similar-you are a big man-you need a lorry load of people to hit me-i will come alone and hit you-it will be like man biting dog-it will be in all the national newspapers-and believe me i will come alone and do it-he was like luca brassi in godfather-the man supremely confident of himself, asking the world to kill him-and ultimately-yes he was killed.
             He would suddenly drop into my clinic, bringing a load of youngsters to be stitched up or dressed-and i found my patients disappearing-and i had to firmly tell him that he had to come to my clinic after all my patients had gone. Devdas hegde had a psyschotic housemate who in a fit of temper kicked a beggar to death and devdas took the charge on himself.
           In todays age he would have had a few crores under his belt and may have started a political party!a tribute
to a don yet a gentleman.