I normally read the trashiest (ie. least intellectually stimulating) fiction while travelling..
and of course on vacation :D
but the rare times that I'm travelling sans companion is when I truly dig in into that alternate reality.. what started out as the giggly-shopaholic series (years ago... extremely far from 'then-me')
soon reached thrillers by Baldacci (picked up in bulk and consumed, inhaled, whole in 3 weeks of glorious hopping)
this time I guiltily shelled up the 600 odd bucks at the airport and sheepishly perused Johar's Biography.. Now I didn't know I was a fan until I met him and pretty much ignored every other filmy presence and dove for him and announced my love! It was bizarre.. Bachchan Senior crossed me along with his convoy of security and what I clearly remember is sidestepping him and launching myself into Johar's courteous company! Johar had just finished his peri-pana (touching feet of an elder to receive blessings) of Bachchan and was raising his head when I announced my presence and gushed. I gushed. and I could hear myself gushing, and wondering 'When did I become such a big fan?'... I just stopped short of pronouncing myself his "number one fan", which I'm sure I'm not.. but somewhere between watching endless Koffee with Karan episodes... I began to feel like I knew him. Personally. Like this was a friend who I was meeting after a long time.
And the conversation with him flowed, he's exactly the way his persona is projected on the show.. warm, courteous, polite, friendly... with the tiniest glimpse of an edge...
again, far removed from my reality but so warm!
So when I began reading his biography... it flowed... just like a conversation with him.
a testament to the writer as well the subject..
I had read excerpts of this book online.. but the whole.. was a treat!
a voyeuristic delight!
His fathers humble roots, the privilege lovingly afforded to him.. struggles with finances..
the coming together of talents nurtured unwittingly in school..
a chain of "coincidences"... and then the rise... the rise that looked so easy
but behind it was the effort of generations..
made me re-realize.. the privilege we all stand on today and whose fruits we enjoy...
are all a product and testament of the efforts of our ancestors..
like our own efforts today will provide the foundation for our loved ones to come..
Nothing is overlooked by the Universe... we may reap its results now or later...
visible or invisible...
but Nothing is overlooked by the Universe..
Like a loving aunt had told me in childhood, everything we do or say is noted down somewhere..
she described it more tangibly as the writing of the good or bad...
I too believe... its being taken note of somewhere..
and we're accumulating our entries.. to face today, tomorrow.. or maybe much later someday..
ominous or liberating? guess it depends on the nature of what we're collecting!
and of course on vacation :D
but the rare times that I'm travelling sans companion is when I truly dig in into that alternate reality.. what started out as the giggly-shopaholic series (years ago... extremely far from 'then-me')
soon reached thrillers by Baldacci (picked up in bulk and consumed, inhaled, whole in 3 weeks of glorious hopping)
this time I guiltily shelled up the 600 odd bucks at the airport and sheepishly perused Johar's Biography.. Now I didn't know I was a fan until I met him and pretty much ignored every other filmy presence and dove for him and announced my love! It was bizarre.. Bachchan Senior crossed me along with his convoy of security and what I clearly remember is sidestepping him and launching myself into Johar's courteous company! Johar had just finished his peri-pana (touching feet of an elder to receive blessings) of Bachchan and was raising his head when I announced my presence and gushed. I gushed. and I could hear myself gushing, and wondering 'When did I become such a big fan?'... I just stopped short of pronouncing myself his "number one fan", which I'm sure I'm not.. but somewhere between watching endless Koffee with Karan episodes... I began to feel like I knew him. Personally. Like this was a friend who I was meeting after a long time.
And the conversation with him flowed, he's exactly the way his persona is projected on the show.. warm, courteous, polite, friendly... with the tiniest glimpse of an edge...
again, far removed from my reality but so warm!
So when I began reading his biography... it flowed... just like a conversation with him.
a testament to the writer as well the subject..
I had read excerpts of this book online.. but the whole.. was a treat!
a voyeuristic delight!
His fathers humble roots, the privilege lovingly afforded to him.. struggles with finances..
the coming together of talents nurtured unwittingly in school..
a chain of "coincidences"... and then the rise... the rise that looked so easy
but behind it was the effort of generations..
made me re-realize.. the privilege we all stand on today and whose fruits we enjoy...
are all a product and testament of the efforts of our ancestors..
like our own efforts today will provide the foundation for our loved ones to come..
Nothing is overlooked by the Universe... we may reap its results now or later...
visible or invisible...
but Nothing is overlooked by the Universe..
Like a loving aunt had told me in childhood, everything we do or say is noted down somewhere..
she described it more tangibly as the writing of the good or bad...
I too believe... its being taken note of somewhere..
and we're accumulating our entries.. to face today, tomorrow.. or maybe much later someday..
ominous or liberating? guess it depends on the nature of what we're collecting!
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