I did not gain the acquaintance of Jaggesh because he is an actor. I know him from much earlier. In fact, from my childhood. We are from the same school. He was me senior at the BP Indian school in Malleswaram. He was very active and popular among the students in school. Later Jaggesh took up acting and I took up journalism.
When I was working in Mangala magazine as a photographer I was assigned to take photos for the magazine's cover page. A photo of Jaggesh that I had clicked appeared on Mangala's cover page. After the publication Jaggesh met me and said thanks. He was also suprised about the publication of his photo. He said he was passing through Malleswaram 18th cross and happened to see the Mangala magazine with him on the cover page. He was surprised at it since it was not only his first coverpage photo in a magazine but he did not know it was coming.
As he was an actor, it was only natural that I got many opportunities to click his photos. Our friendship also grew stronger. As he has explained in many interviews, his struggle in the industry was very hard and the success he got was all due to this struggle. Here I am not going to repeat things about his film career or the film industry but his dedication and nature of helping others.
Jaggesh understands friends problem and comes to support immediately. 23 years back when now KFCC president Sa Ra Govindu wife Smt Gayathri got expired (5/5/1996) Sa Ra Govindu went into depression and did not come outside for nearly 6 months. Jaggesh and Sa Ra Govindu are family friends. During this time Jaggesh and his wife Smt Parimala Jaggesh went to Govindu house and was shocked to see him with beard. Jaggesh immediately convinced Sa Ra Govindu to do a movie immediately and called director H Vasu and told him to start the shooting within one week. It was Veeranna which became superhit later. Jaggesh had fixed the shooting location to Mysore so that Sa Ra Govindu would come out from depression when he is out of station. But Sa Ra govindu without telling to Jaggesh used to drive to Bengaluru every day and back drive to Mysore in the morning for the shooting. Govindu did not want to Mis his kids everyday. From there Sa Ra Govindu life got a different turn and it was because of Jaggesh motivation during that depression time. I used to visit Jaggesh's house often. He was fond of inviting friends from the media to his house for parties.
At his home in Malleshwaram his family members (Jaggesh, Parimala Jaggesh, Yethiraj, Gururaj) used to sit at the dining table to eat. That dining table was specially designed on specifications given by Jaggesh and he also had a cot made for his kids. This was a two-storied bed, with one above the other. This is a common design for cots now but Jaggesh had it designed more than 20 years ago. His first priority was always his family.
Jaggesh was not earning big money. His remuneration for several years remained minimu. But even with the little earning, he would financially help others. He had his own way fo checking whether those seeking help were worthy of it.
With the arrival of mobile phones in the 1990s I had purchased a handset. Mobile phones were very expensive then. He had come to my house one evening. We were talking and went for a walk. Some thief stole my mobile and ran away with it. Jaggesh who was with me, told me not to worry. He gave me one of his own handsets.
Another incident dates back 18 years. One journalist by name Rajarao was an honest person but had not made any money in life. All he had earned was respect from everyone. He had retired from Samyuktha Karnataka. Me and Rajarao were very close and knew each others' personal details. After working an entire lifetime, he did not even have a single site. When I had told this to Jaggesh, he immediately said he will give a site to such a gentlemen. On Jaggesh's birthday there was a function at Sriramapura. Jaggesh had called Rajarao and on the stage he gifted him a site. Rajarao was in tears.
Not only for journalists, Jaggesh has helped so many people. But he never publicly shares such details. He would say that whatever help is done should not be told to others. When he was an MLC he has provided help to the maximum number of people possible.
But strangely, I have witnessed some incidents in which Jaggesh has helped others but got blame in return. Here is one example.Once when I had gone to Abbaiah Naidu studio, Jaggesh was shooting for a film. Casually we were talking and I told him about a film journalist who had met with an accident. That journalist was also known to Jaggesh. After that Jaggesh asked me how his financial condition was. I told him that this journalist worke for Samyuktha Karnataka and his salary was not much. Jaggesh immediately called a person and asked him to give Rs 10,000 and requested the director to permit him for one hour to go out and come back.
Jaggesh and I went to that journalist's house but were surprised that he had gone to work. Jaggesh handed out the amount to his wife and told to give to him. She was surprised and asked what it was. Jaggesh told her that he was supposed to pay him and was giving it then. Later that journalist called me and thanked me and Jaggesh for helping. Later they became close and after sometime that same journalist started writing against Jaggesh. Later Jaggesh gave a complaint letter to that magazine editor about him.
Very recently another incident happened. Jaggesh had gone to help someone in Malleshwaram. But without knowing why he was there, some people blamed him for something he was not responsible for. Whenever there is the issue of Kannada language, Jaggesh is at the forefront. He has always raised his voice for the cause of Kannada.
Now Jaggesh is contensting from the Yeshwanthpur constituency from BJP. Many in the film industry want him to win so that he can continue to do more good. Chitraloka wishes friend Jaggesh to come out victorious.
