A random conversation with Suchi , was the origin of this post. While we were discussing "Gone with the wind" and "fountainhead" we were talking about how some leading men in books leave a lasting impression on us. Some of them are so well etched by the authors that we pine to see a man like that. So here is a list of the leading men in books that i had a crush on, at some time or the other.

1. Howard Roark - The Fountain head.
There was something about him that made him a class above everyone else. Whether it was his complete disregard to others in an almost innocent way, his passion for the work that he did, his clarity of thought on what he wanted , his ambition, Howard Roark set an indelible impression on me.I fell in love with Fountainhead and he was my most favorite character.

2. Rhett Butler.
Aww! Rhet Butler, he oozes charm. He like Suchi says is the right mix of devil and the angel. As stubborn as he was, as dismissive as he was of others and their cause during the civil war in America, he was still head over  heels in love with Scarlett and wished and hoped that she would feel the same towards him too. His love for Scarlett, his devotion to boney , his admiration of Melanie,  gave his character such bright colors.

Be it Howard or Rhett , they were bothered only about their own interests  and were not apologetic about it. There was something refreshing about that. People who were not ashamed to say what they thought, how they felt and better defend their principles. There is a reason they were fictional. To top it ,Clark Gable immortalized Rhett for me.

3. Vandhiyathevan

I read ponniyin selvan much later than I should have but I  am so happy that i did read it. The characters in the book are so beautifully developed that when an incident happens, you think in your mind "Gosh, that is soo Vandhiyathevan or I knew Vanathi would do that" . That is the extent to which Kalki made his characters stick in our minds. He made them household names, they still are.

And vandhiyathevan, oh vandhiyathevan, he is just soo adorable. He is brave, he is unbelievably smart, not the bookish smart types, but street smart. Give him any situation, and he will come out of  it unscathed, thanks to that nimble brain of his. And he flirts! Yes , he does. Vandhiyathevan is just like any other man in the prime of his youth, when he looks at any beautiful young maiden, his boyish charm surfaces and he flirts with them, cajoles them, makes them laugh and they all fall for him and help him get out of his sticky situation. Right from Kundavai , to manimegalai and maybe even Nadhini . His street smartness coupled with his boyish charm is yet another irresistible combination.

4.Ganesh from Sujatha's Ganesh Vasanth.
I loved detective Ganesh. He was like our very own sherlock holmes and Sujatha's characterization of him made him my hero!

I now tag others to do the same. Suchi ofcourse, Anu, Archu ,Dhivya and Bg