Of Celebrity Icons
By Maxwell Pereira
mfjpkamath@gmail.com
It
was super-star Amitabh Bachchan who dominated my 'morning
walk thoughts' today. I was taking my routine mandatory
constitutional, even as the first rays of the rising sun
on the horizon were casting long shadows of me in the
park as they struck the first day of December 2005! May
be because his sudden ill-health due to suspected food-poisoning
and hospitalisation at Escorts Delhi and Leelawati Mumbai
where he's undergone surgery for intestinal infection
has been front page news these last two days.
I
know of Amitabh obviously because everybody knows him
- as an icon of India's film industry, having reached
heights in Bollywood and on the telly-screen no one else
ever has in recent memory. I cannot be presumptuous though
as to claim he knows me - I am sure he does not - but
I did have an encounter with him once years ago on the
central vista lawns of Delhi's India gate when actor Manoj
Kumar and he were together shooting for a film.
Police
arrangements had been detailed to keep the crowds away.
More than the ostensible and passing excuse of a supervisory
look-see for my 'otherwise not required' presence there,
sheer basic human weakness for celebrity encounter and
curiosity had perhaps attracted my physical self to the
place and lured me to the vicinity in the guise of taking
a discreet round. And lo and behold our police legal advisor
Khanna who I later came to know was a childhood class-fellow
and friend of Manoj was there in full strength with family
getting himself photographed with the celebrity stars.
On
sighting me on the periphery he felt perhaps compelled
to extend magnanimously the courtesy to me as well, but
being in uniform I had declined with a polite negative
nod and walked away. It was then that out of the corner
of my eye I sensed a tall figure sprint towards me, and
before I could react, literally encircled me with his
long hand to drag me to where the others were, to get
me photographed by the industry photographer clicking
away on his professional camera.
Not
too long thereafter, I was delivered a glossy picture
of me in the company of these celebrities, which as anyone
would want to, has carefully been preserved since. That
was Amitabh for you!
My
thoughts dwelling on Amitabh, strayed further today to
the time when I had to periodically hold hands with his
mother Teji Bachchan. 'Holding hands' metaphorically of
senior citizens was part of my routine as DCP South District
in the mid eighties - at times a great PR exercise, at
times a pain in the butt suffered grudgingly. There was
a time when not a day would pass without a call from the
venerable old lady - and woe to me if I ever dared not
to drop in at the senior Bachchans' Gulmohar Park residence.
The
security concerns of their well fortified house was ever
a bother to her, so the increasing traffic outside her
gate that ultimately got me to prevail on my colleague
in the Traffic Department to bring on speed breakers to
check the erratic designs of the boisterous youngsters
from the rustic neighbourhood. Sprightly and full of life
even at her age, she was gracious to me when I dropped
in, but always needed to remind and re-introduce me to
a seemingly hard-of-hearing (…I suppose due to old
age) poet husband whom she addressed with a drawling "Bachchchaaaaaan……."
even as he sat relaxed in a rocking chair. I used to feel
a bit ill at ease though, frankly because her warmth never
could compensate or wipe out the snootiness I experienced
on the part of the other house inmates.
Then
my supposed closeness to her did have some embarrassing
moments too - like when the powers that be through my
immediate boss needed me to worm out from her information
on the immediate whereabouts of both her sons, whom I
gathered were being sought desperately for secret political
parleys not privy to me! I had failed my bosses then -
my supposed charm hadn't worked, and the lady had excelled
then in diplomatically denying me the information. And
if I remember correctly, with this ended finally the tête-à-tête
between us!
I
have very little knowledge of the Hindi cinema scene or
of Bollywood; and I like to believe I am not one given
to licking celebrity derrières. But at a time like
this I do find myself quite comfortable in the role of
a well-wisher joining the ranks of millions of his fans
wishing Amitabh a speedy recovery.
750
words
01.12.2005: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira; tel: 0124-4111025;
3725 Sector 23, Gurgaon-122002.
Available at maxwellpereira44@gmail.com
or maxpk@vsnl.com
& http://www.planetindia.net.maxwell
