Huge lobby with white marble flooring. Huge statue in the center with both arms open and pointing towards the sky. Green curtains everywhere. A very typical smell. People around in a very typical dress. Sitting there in the hospital’s lounge, my eyes were gazing at a face. A face which I don’t think I can ever forget in my whole life. It was probably the most expressive face I had ever seen in my entire life…except that the expression on that face was…rather there was no expression on the face, and it still had the capability of narrating an entire epic.
An epic of sadness. An epic of loneliness. An epic of despair. The face saw something imminent. Something unavoidable. Something that the tattered body had made a compromise with. Something to which the willpower had given up. Given up and accepted defeat. Its gonna be, anyway, the last fight for her. The statue in the lobby which symbolized hope…which looked like receiving the blessings from up above, suddenly posed a different meaning. The open hands were calling to the Divine as if a child seeking his mother’s embrace after a tiring day at play. Yes, the play was about to be over. The time was near for the eternal embrace.
The drooping shoulders were telling a tale about the burden they had lifted the entire life. Burden…rather, responsibility of being in a family, supporting another and probably raising one. Playing the role of a daughter, sister, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother, the life was a fully lived performing all the roles with utmost perfection. Performing? Yes. As Shakespeare had very aptly said, "All the world’s a stage and all us humans mere actors. All of us have to come on stage, performs our stints, and make an exit." On this stage everyone has his or her shares of ups and downs. Sometimes the actors forget the dialogues; at times the music man plays the song in the wrong scene; even worse, the light man gives a spotlight when the stage is supposed to be pitch dark! But the show must go on…It sure goes on. But the act has to come to an end.
And there she was. Lying on the deathbed. Deathbed, which is going to put an end to her act. But the show sure goes on.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Third Time Lucky
The news was out…I could not believe my ears, my eyes, my lenses and my senses! The news was like a dream come true…Jus’ like the ‘Summer of ’69…err…. I mean the summer of 2002.
It was a hot draining afternoon in room 101. Location: PICT Boy’s Hostel, Pune. Preparations for my third year second semester practical exams were on in full swing (Uhh…What a time that was!!!) and someone broke the news…Bryan Adams is flying down to India and will be performing LIVE in Bombay and Bangalore…This was the news in May 2002. This was Second Time Lucky. Someone screamed from the end of the corridor….BRYAN ADAMS !!!….WOW !!! But what to do with these goddamn exams??? In that exam time ka ‘mahol’ this news got kinda hush-hushed….and everybody was back to business. I couldn’t believe I was gonna miss this show which would be happening jus’ 150 km from my place! Bryan Adams man…It was Brandy! Performing Live….but the chances of attending the concert in the mid of exams was very very bleak….and then it happened. We buddies took the ‘kasam’ >> ki boss!…agli baar ye banda jab bhi India ke kisi bhi kone mein perform karega, iske concert mein to jarur jayenge…phir vo Arunachal ke jungalo mein hi kyu na ho…
Circa 2006.
It was a cool afternoon in a white cubicle (Thanks to the dear old A.C., which has become a ‘part and parcel’ of our lives). Location: Office in Mumbai…News was making rounds, rather zigzagging in between the cubicles that one Mr. Bryan Adams will be performing in Bombay and Bangalore. News was ‘supplied’ by one of my colleagues who recently got hooked to Raak music and was extrrrremely keen on attending all raak concerts happening in Mumbai!…This was the news in January 2006. This was Third Time Lucky. Yes…Finally he was back (First of all I thanked God he was not performing in Arunachal). Bryan Adams was performing right here in Mumbai…aamchi Mumbai!! I got a déjà vu…It WAS a dream come true. The entire happenings of that afternoon in the hostel jus’ flashed by in front of me…
It was Showtime!!
Rather it was time to climb down from Cloud Number Nine and take some quick action. Action like >> buying the tickets before all are sold out!! So I, along with two of my colleagues, rushed to the nearest outlet to collect the tickets for the show and after spending a bomb amount, held them proudly in my hand. It was a shiny dark green piece, with a golden hologram emblazoned on its surface, a list of sponsors on one side and a number of instructions on the rear side. It really was a gate-pass to the wonderland. We gladly celebrated our little victory and geared up for the bigger one.
Real Showtime!!
The D-day arrived. 4th of February. It was no less than 4th of July (American Independence Day) for me…I was feeling so liberated after all. The concert was arranged at MMRDA Ground, BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex). The show was supposed to start by 8:00 pm but the beeline was already there since 4:00…And boy…what a CROWD!!! Perfect ‘Eyetonics’ dressed in their best of attires to woo and get woo-ed and did we fall for the PYTs (Pretty Young Things)…You bet! So Here I Am…err I mean I was right at the doors of Heaven. I could see the Stars too… :-) I stood in the loooo…ngg line, which seemed to touch eternity. It seemed that the whole of Mumbai had turned in for the concert. The area enclosed for the show was a huge huge space with bright lights and equally huge banners screaming out the sponsors’ names. At one side was a huge wooden stage built up for him where few band members were arranging the instruments and doing the last minute checks. The wait, though very long was worth every second and people jus’ didn’t stop coming in. Deluge. Flood water flowing over the water gates.
The show started by a salsa dance presentation and a few rock gigs by some local bands. And then he barged in with his band. Bryan Adams in all of flesh and blood performing right in front of me…Man! And I really tumbled down the rabbit hole (This one is for you buddy!). He started with Cloud Number Nine (I need not mention the girls screaming at the top of their voices…who intelligently occupied the front most rows :-)) and moved on to few old ones from his album Reckless. After which he belted out hits after hits…18 Till I Die, Heaven, Stars, Everything I Do, Please Forgive Me, Back To You, Cuts Like A Knife, …. The best was when he started this song by saying: ‘If you haven’t heard this song yet, I don’t know where you had been’….
(guitar strumming)…
I got my first real six strings, bought it at the five and dime,
played it till my fingers bled, it was the Summer of ’69…
This man’s energy was worth envy. He sang with such amazing intensity and passion that I could feel my emotions changing with the songs. But, such is the power of music and when there is none other than Bryan Adams to hypnotize you, to be there in that moment, then one is simply left…speechless! Junta went in frenzy, screaming and responding to the magic that he created there that evening. Everyone singing along with him, hands in the air, and all in perfect blissful harmony jus’ like devout bhakts getting mesmerized by the bhajans in their Lord’s praise (though here the bhajans too were sung by the lord himself…). The ‘pooja’ lasted for around two and a half hours. And as he was about to wind up and leave, people started screaming for one more song…The scream was maddening…sure to drive even Bryan Adams nuts. And I guess after little negotiation with the event manager, he was back on the stage and gave us another hit! I was simply overwhelmed at the end of it…and there were several PYTs all teary-eyed bidding adieu to Bryan at the end of show.
It’s more than a month after the show now, but the music mania that Bryan Adams created that evening feels like yesterday evening and will sure be like this for some more time to come…
It was a hot draining afternoon in room 101. Location: PICT Boy’s Hostel, Pune. Preparations for my third year second semester practical exams were on in full swing (Uhh…What a time that was!!!) and someone broke the news…Bryan Adams is flying down to India and will be performing LIVE in Bombay and Bangalore…This was the news in May 2002. This was Second Time Lucky. Someone screamed from the end of the corridor….BRYAN ADAMS !!!….WOW !!! But what to do with these goddamn exams??? In that exam time ka ‘mahol’ this news got kinda hush-hushed….and everybody was back to business. I couldn’t believe I was gonna miss this show which would be happening jus’ 150 km from my place! Bryan Adams man…It was Brandy! Performing Live….but the chances of attending the concert in the mid of exams was very very bleak….and then it happened. We buddies took the ‘kasam’ >> ki boss!…agli baar ye banda jab bhi India ke kisi bhi kone mein perform karega, iske concert mein to jarur jayenge…phir vo Arunachal ke jungalo mein hi kyu na ho…
Circa 2006.
It was a cool afternoon in a white cubicle (Thanks to the dear old A.C., which has become a ‘part and parcel’ of our lives). Location: Office in Mumbai…News was making rounds, rather zigzagging in between the cubicles that one Mr. Bryan Adams will be performing in Bombay and Bangalore. News was ‘supplied’ by one of my colleagues who recently got hooked to Raak music and was extrrrremely keen on attending all raak concerts happening in Mumbai!…This was the news in January 2006. This was Third Time Lucky. Yes…Finally he was back (First of all I thanked God he was not performing in Arunachal). Bryan Adams was performing right here in Mumbai…aamchi Mumbai!! I got a déjà vu…It WAS a dream come true. The entire happenings of that afternoon in the hostel jus’ flashed by in front of me…
It was Showtime!!
Rather it was time to climb down from Cloud Number Nine and take some quick action. Action like >> buying the tickets before all are sold out!! So I, along with two of my colleagues, rushed to the nearest outlet to collect the tickets for the show and after spending a bomb amount, held them proudly in my hand. It was a shiny dark green piece, with a golden hologram emblazoned on its surface, a list of sponsors on one side and a number of instructions on the rear side. It really was a gate-pass to the wonderland. We gladly celebrated our little victory and geared up for the bigger one.
Real Showtime!!
The D-day arrived. 4th of February. It was no less than 4th of July (American Independence Day) for me…I was feeling so liberated after all. The concert was arranged at MMRDA Ground, BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex). The show was supposed to start by 8:00 pm but the beeline was already there since 4:00…And boy…what a CROWD!!! Perfect ‘Eyetonics’ dressed in their best of attires to woo and get woo-ed and did we fall for the PYTs (Pretty Young Things)…You bet! So Here I Am…err I mean I was right at the doors of Heaven. I could see the Stars too… :-) I stood in the loooo…ngg line, which seemed to touch eternity. It seemed that the whole of Mumbai had turned in for the concert. The area enclosed for the show was a huge huge space with bright lights and equally huge banners screaming out the sponsors’ names. At one side was a huge wooden stage built up for him where few band members were arranging the instruments and doing the last minute checks. The wait, though very long was worth every second and people jus’ didn’t stop coming in. Deluge. Flood water flowing over the water gates.
The show started by a salsa dance presentation and a few rock gigs by some local bands. And then he barged in with his band. Bryan Adams in all of flesh and blood performing right in front of me…Man! And I really tumbled down the rabbit hole (This one is for you buddy!). He started with Cloud Number Nine (I need not mention the girls screaming at the top of their voices…who intelligently occupied the front most rows :-)) and moved on to few old ones from his album Reckless. After which he belted out hits after hits…18 Till I Die, Heaven, Stars, Everything I Do, Please Forgive Me, Back To You, Cuts Like A Knife, …. The best was when he started this song by saying: ‘If you haven’t heard this song yet, I don’t know where you had been’….
(guitar strumming)…
I got my first real six strings, bought it at the five and dime,
played it till my fingers bled, it was the Summer of ’69…
This man’s energy was worth envy. He sang with such amazing intensity and passion that I could feel my emotions changing with the songs. But, such is the power of music and when there is none other than Bryan Adams to hypnotize you, to be there in that moment, then one is simply left…speechless! Junta went in frenzy, screaming and responding to the magic that he created there that evening. Everyone singing along with him, hands in the air, and all in perfect blissful harmony jus’ like devout bhakts getting mesmerized by the bhajans in their Lord’s praise (though here the bhajans too were sung by the lord himself…). The ‘pooja’ lasted for around two and a half hours. And as he was about to wind up and leave, people started screaming for one more song…The scream was maddening…sure to drive even Bryan Adams nuts. And I guess after little negotiation with the event manager, he was back on the stage and gave us another hit! I was simply overwhelmed at the end of it…and there were several PYTs all teary-eyed bidding adieu to Bryan at the end of show.
It’s more than a month after the show now, but the music mania that Bryan Adams created that evening feels like yesterday evening and will sure be like this for some more time to come…
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