I recently attended a book launch held at the Trident.The book is authored by two professors eminent in their own fields. The launch was presided by Kabir Bedi.
What took the cake and the icing was compering at the program.THE COMPERE WAS TRULY A SHOW STOPPER.
He stopped the show.
He punctuated it with his appalling English and even more appalling attitude. Fanatic about fantastic, he used the word at least twenty times in ten minutes. I almost began to look for a thesaurus online to see if I could give him synonyms for that word. The program was fantastic even before it began, it was fantastic as it went ahead and of course it ended fantastically.
As he welcomed Kabir Bedi he announced, I welcome Mr.Kabir Bedi, a man, a voice. Well well, upon his proclamation do we all know now that KB is indeed a man and that too with a voice!
And then he went to call the author.He was looking for the author straight ahead while the author entered the stage from the side aisles. The host of the fantastic program launching the fantastic book had no clue who the fantastic author was!
And of course,the author was published on leading ladies(sic!) of the country! I coudnt help wonder what the wife of the author would have to say to that !
Every individual he introduced donned several caps and each cap had several feathers. Each one was fantastic individual. Each one had done things that ran into pages (which I am sure he hadn’t had time to go through!) and each one was an amazing human being! Yes, I was in the esteemed company of clones.
And as the day went ahead smattered with bad grammar and attitude, I left the hall wondering how such mediocrity in public life gets accepted ( and paid!).
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
The Pied Piper
What is it about college campuses that makes one believe that life is never a struggle but only an array of opportunities? What is it about the romance of friendship that makes us believe that friends are forever and ever and ever? What is it about the magical age of youth that one feels time is endless and happiness always permanent?
These thoughts and more stroked my heart after a rendezvous’ with a couple of old college mates two days ago. Life had taken us away and each one had drifted in his or her own path .As we gossiped, image after image crumbled. The reality today was no longer fresh as rose. The dew drops had dissipated and what was left was a barren desert.
And my thoughts gently floated back over to the campus. I could see the young boys and girls laughing, playing, running, screaming, crying, consoling, fighting and making up and fighting again. The hostels stood mute testimony to our vows and promises.
The wonderful bonds of friendships that developed mainly due to a 24/7 proximity and were generated by default were our lifelines. Friendships that grew because we shared a room or friendships that grew because we had common friends or friendships that grew because we shared the same passions or hobbies. Like the Pied Piper, the Campus led all of together on a journey that we shared and finally flung us all out of its gate only to be drowned by Time.
Today we didn’t know where these friends were. Though some of them were on Facebook or Orkut, the bonds were no longer there. Some of them didn’t want to be contacted. Some of them were not traceable. But what pinched the most was the closest of friends didn’t know each other was.
As the conversation moved ahead I clung on to my memories not wanting any more to disappear. I rummaged through old photographs just to ensure that my world rebuilt itself in my mind and was just as I had left it.
Kagaz ke kuch tukdon mein yaadein hain humaari
Unhe kaagaz mein hi rehne do
Jo duniya chod aaye hum woh aaj nahin hain humaari
Unhe palkon mein hi rehne do
These thoughts and more stroked my heart after a rendezvous’ with a couple of old college mates two days ago. Life had taken us away and each one had drifted in his or her own path .As we gossiped, image after image crumbled. The reality today was no longer fresh as rose. The dew drops had dissipated and what was left was a barren desert.
And my thoughts gently floated back over to the campus. I could see the young boys and girls laughing, playing, running, screaming, crying, consoling, fighting and making up and fighting again. The hostels stood mute testimony to our vows and promises.
The wonderful bonds of friendships that developed mainly due to a 24/7 proximity and were generated by default were our lifelines. Friendships that grew because we shared a room or friendships that grew because we had common friends or friendships that grew because we shared the same passions or hobbies. Like the Pied Piper, the Campus led all of together on a journey that we shared and finally flung us all out of its gate only to be drowned by Time.
Today we didn’t know where these friends were. Though some of them were on Facebook or Orkut, the bonds were no longer there. Some of them didn’t want to be contacted. Some of them were not traceable. But what pinched the most was the closest of friends didn’t know each other was.
As the conversation moved ahead I clung on to my memories not wanting any more to disappear. I rummaged through old photographs just to ensure that my world rebuilt itself in my mind and was just as I had left it.
Kagaz ke kuch tukdon mein yaadein hain humaari
Unhe kaagaz mein hi rehne do
Jo duniya chod aaye hum woh aaj nahin hain humaari
Unhe palkon mein hi rehne do
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