Subject popularity

I wanted to see which topics I had written about in all my blogs got the greatest number of comments. Although I am not running comments-oriented blogs, as most people are in touch with me directly by email or phone, this was just a random opinion gathering study.

I was surprised to see the maximum number of comments I received was when I wrote about my childhood experiences in watching wrestling in Bangalore in the early 1950s.

There seems to have been a nerve there with my thoughts about Dara Singh, King Kong, Flash Gordon, the Masked Angel and many more EXCITING NAMES.

A raging controversy developed as to whether there were two Dara Singhs - the Wrestler and the Actor.

It was Most interesting to see how many people, like me, revelled in all that make believe wrestling bouts that we were shown. All it says it that those Wrestlers were really superb Actors . and besides enduring a great deal of pain, they still could stick to their scripts! NO WONDER DARA SINGH THE WRESTLER WAS ALSO A GREAT ACTOR!

Wrestling Champion of the World - I seriously do not believe there was any such title - it was a game of fun and make believe of stuntmen to be watched and enjoyed.

But I must say, as a 10 year old, I really did enjoy all that tremendous bouts - the drop kick, the throat stamp, the the overhead spin, and many more manoeuvres that I would go home and practice - in secret!

And to finally resolve the controversy about two Dara Singhs - there was only one, the Wrestler who became an Actor and later a Rajya Sabha Member who did a lot for sports in general. IHe was appointed to the Rajya Sabha in the year 2003 for his contribution to SPORT and AS AN ARTISTE.

The following profile is fromthe Rajya sabha Booklet.

Detailed Profile: Shri Dara Singh


Name Shri Dara Singh
Father's Name Shri Surat Singh
Mother's Name Shrimati Balwant Kaur
Date of Birth 1928-11-19
Birth Place Village Dharmuchak, Distt. Amritsar (Punjab)
Maritial Status Married On 11 May 1961
Spouse Name Shrimati Surjit Kaur Randhawa
No. of Children Three daughters, Two Sons
State Name Nominated
Party Name Bharatiya Janata Party
Permanent Address 308, Dara Villa, A.B.Nair Road, Juhu, Mumbai 400049
Telephone : {022} 26206720(O), 26703070(R)
Present Address 10, Dr. R.P. Road, New Delhi. 110001
Telephone : 23712828, 23752112, 9868181233(M)
Email id darasingh@sansad.nic.in
Educational Qualifications Self-educated
Profession Agriculture, Wrestling, Cine Artiste (Producer and Director)
Positions Held Aug. 2003 Nominated to Rajya Sabha Sept.
2003-Feb. 2004 Member, Committee on Human Resource Development
Feb. 2004 - 2006 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and SportsAug.
2004 onwards Member, Committee on Information Technology
2006 onwards Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Freedom Fighter No
Books Published Meri Atmakatha (Punjabi), 1989
Social and Cultural Activities, Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments and other Special Interests Has written, directed and produced a Hindi film Mera Desh Mera Dharam and a Punjabi film Sawa Lakh Se Ek Ladawn (historical) along with ten other Punjabi and Hindi films; won (i) Professional Indian Wrestling Championship in 1953, (ii) Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in 1959 by defeating Canadian Champion George Godianko and (iii) World Wrestling Championship in 1968 by defeating Lou Theze of America; was conferred the Best Actor Award for the film Jagga by the Government of India which was presented by late Shrimati Indira Gandhi; honoured as honorary citizen of New Jersey by the city of New Jersey, U.S.A.
Sports, Clubs, Favourite Pastimes and Recreation Sports, exercise, reading and cinema
Countries Visited All over the world in connection with wrestling tournaments except China
Other Information President, (i) All India Jat Samaj since 1997, and
(ii) Bombay Jat Samaj since 1987; President, Cine Artist Association since 2005

I am sure this blog entry will draw a lot of flak!!!