I went to office like any other day (late as usual !!) but when I entered office I was hit by a buzz (not of bees!!!) Everyone from the security guard, to the peon, colleagues - saying the same thing at the same time-
"Do you know Shahrukh Khan is coming to the Reebok store next door"??" Being the late lateef that I am, I was the last person to come to know about it!!
From what I could gather- the time for the "event" was 12 pm...Venue was the Reebok Store just adjacent to our office building. A stage had been prepared and to protect SRK from prying eyes of the "aam junta" a wall had been erected around the area...The event was some auction of Knight Riders stuff (that's what I heard) ...Though I was quite doubtful that Shahrukh Khan would risk his complexion prancing around in the scorching heat.... But I guess that's what he gets paid for !!! If I was paid that much I would very well risk becoming "dark and ugly" from "fair and lovely" !!! Ahem... fair and lovely is too much, but again its my blog !!! So fair & lovely it is !!! Nobody paid any heed to my musings coz everybody was discussing from where they could get a good glimpse of SRK...
Yes, dear reader...you guessed it right - people did not work that day.. I doubt in the financial docs that we write, whether anybody wrote about Shahrukh Khan absentmindedly. If so, I wouldn't have been surprised !!!
The 12 pm deadline rolled to 1 pm... But that couldn't deter the die hard fans…Some of them went downstairs to maintain a long vigil outside the gates of the Reebok store... Few went to the terrace, where there was only one spot from where the stage could be seen & four people could stand side by side- Lets say that was the front seat !!! Behind them there was a pipe on which stood another four people - the gallery seat !!! I went upstairs once to scrutinize the affairs and was totally amazed at the scene there and what I saw on the road - There were people on both sides of the road, on the terraces of the adjacent as well as the opposite buildings...The sun was blazing away to glory & the damsels who normally would never venture out in the sun at such a time, were braving the heat just to catch a glimpse of SRK and that too the top his head from 10 stories above!! It was MADNESS !!! The heat and the height was too much for me & I was also not sure whether the pipe would be able to bear my weight !!! So I came back downstairs and got back to work.
The clock struck four & all hell broke loose !!! We could hear the sound from 8 stories above... Windows in the office were opened wide (to hell with the AC !!!) , people almost flung their upper parts of their bodies out of the windows to catch a glimpse.....I was amazed to see "Pdi" (a senior colleague and dear friend of mine, one of the literary kinds) half out of the window !!! I doubt whether she even knows the name of one of his movies !!! During this madness there were a handful of people who stoically went on doing their work... I am a bit ashamed to say I was not one of them.. had tried though, but was carried away with the tide!!! I thought what the heck, why should I be left behind??? I also had a peek.... but the distance was such, if anybody else stood there and someone told me "Look that's SRK" I would have believed him/her... From that distance it wouldn't have made a difference and being myopic I wouldn't have been able to make a difference !!!
What was SRK doing?? He took the mike and said a few things...hit a ball with a bat... danced a few steps... that was it !!! I didn't even get to see all of this then, saw it on TV later... again and again, as it was all over the place !!!
After the event was over, everyone was smiling... as if they had had a personal chitchat with SRK... A colleague came all excited and gushed- "We had gone to the staircase landing, got a good view and I have even taken his pics" ...I felt a pang of regret .. shucks.. why hadn't I gone there??? But the regret was gone the moment when she took out her mobile and said "Thaaaaaaaaats him !!!" By the "a"s I have added, one can very well imagine the distance and the size of SRK!!!! On second thoughts should have added more "a"s, didn't quite do justice !!! he he!!!
Things didn't come back to normal that day.. The spectators from the terrace/road came back feeling tired & weak, so they went home...One group came back too disappointed as the police had misled them & they had stood at a such a place from where they couldn't even see him, let alone touch him (that was their plan!!)… Rest of the people were too excited to work... and that's how we lost one workday during our much hectic earnings season.
This experience set me thinking... I couldn't help being amazed at the charisma of this person... such a crowd pulling ability... so many educated people behaving like star struck kids... SRK doesn't even know what people did that day just to catch a glimpse of him & that too from 10 stories above... with the hope that he would just look their way and wave at them !!! Such endeavors to see a person whom you can see on every magazine, hoardings, any channel, any time of the day... Does he look any different in person?? Did anybody even catch a proper glimpse of him?? Nopes.. But that's the way it is... this is how people behave when they see any celebs.. Or is it a thing about us Indians only??? What it is that makes them different from any of us??? Was Shahrukh Khan enjoying the whole thing? Doing the same old routine?? Wouldn't he have enjoyed it more spending time with his family and friends??? But I guess this is the price one has to pay for fame....
At one point of time I envied the luck and the power this man possesses...Had thought "Wow, what a life this guy has...God...why couldn't you make me so famous, so coveted???
But I don't think so now as-
"Do you know Shahrukh Khan is coming to the Reebok store next door"??" Being the late lateef that I am, I was the last person to come to know about it!!
From what I could gather- the time for the "event" was 12 pm...Venue was the Reebok Store just adjacent to our office building. A stage had been prepared and to protect SRK from prying eyes of the "aam junta" a wall had been erected around the area...The event was some auction of Knight Riders stuff (that's what I heard) ...Though I was quite doubtful that Shahrukh Khan would risk his complexion prancing around in the scorching heat.... But I guess that's what he gets paid for !!! If I was paid that much I would very well risk becoming "dark and ugly" from "fair and lovely" !!! Ahem... fair and lovely is too much, but again its my blog !!! So fair & lovely it is !!! Nobody paid any heed to my musings coz everybody was discussing from where they could get a good glimpse of SRK...
Yes, dear reader...you guessed it right - people did not work that day.. I doubt in the financial docs that we write, whether anybody wrote about Shahrukh Khan absentmindedly. If so, I wouldn't have been surprised !!!
The 12 pm deadline rolled to 1 pm... But that couldn't deter the die hard fans…Some of them went downstairs to maintain a long vigil outside the gates of the Reebok store... Few went to the terrace, where there was only one spot from where the stage could be seen & four people could stand side by side- Lets say that was the front seat !!! Behind them there was a pipe on which stood another four people - the gallery seat !!! I went upstairs once to scrutinize the affairs and was totally amazed at the scene there and what I saw on the road - There were people on both sides of the road, on the terraces of the adjacent as well as the opposite buildings...The sun was blazing away to glory & the damsels who normally would never venture out in the sun at such a time, were braving the heat just to catch a glimpse of SRK and that too the top his head from 10 stories above!! It was MADNESS !!! The heat and the height was too much for me & I was also not sure whether the pipe would be able to bear my weight !!! So I came back downstairs and got back to work.
The clock struck four & all hell broke loose !!! We could hear the sound from 8 stories above... Windows in the office were opened wide (to hell with the AC !!!) , people almost flung their upper parts of their bodies out of the windows to catch a glimpse.....I was amazed to see "Pdi" (a senior colleague and dear friend of mine, one of the literary kinds) half out of the window !!! I doubt whether she even knows the name of one of his movies !!! During this madness there were a handful of people who stoically went on doing their work... I am a bit ashamed to say I was not one of them.. had tried though, but was carried away with the tide!!! I thought what the heck, why should I be left behind??? I also had a peek.... but the distance was such, if anybody else stood there and someone told me "Look that's SRK" I would have believed him/her... From that distance it wouldn't have made a difference and being myopic I wouldn't have been able to make a difference !!!
What was SRK doing?? He took the mike and said a few things...hit a ball with a bat... danced a few steps... that was it !!! I didn't even get to see all of this then, saw it on TV later... again and again, as it was all over the place !!!
After the event was over, everyone was smiling... as if they had had a personal chitchat with SRK... A colleague came all excited and gushed- "We had gone to the staircase landing, got a good view and I have even taken his pics" ...I felt a pang of regret .. shucks.. why hadn't I gone there??? But the regret was gone the moment when she took out her mobile and said "Thaaaaaaaaats him !!!" By the "a"s I have added, one can very well imagine the distance and the size of SRK!!!! On second thoughts should have added more "a"s, didn't quite do justice !!! he he!!!
Things didn't come back to normal that day.. The spectators from the terrace/road came back feeling tired & weak, so they went home...One group came back too disappointed as the police had misled them & they had stood at a such a place from where they couldn't even see him, let alone touch him (that was their plan!!)… Rest of the people were too excited to work... and that's how we lost one workday during our much hectic earnings season.
This experience set me thinking... I couldn't help being amazed at the charisma of this person... such a crowd pulling ability... so many educated people behaving like star struck kids... SRK doesn't even know what people did that day just to catch a glimpse of him & that too from 10 stories above... with the hope that he would just look their way and wave at them !!! Such endeavors to see a person whom you can see on every magazine, hoardings, any channel, any time of the day... Does he look any different in person?? Did anybody even catch a proper glimpse of him?? Nopes.. But that's the way it is... this is how people behave when they see any celebs.. Or is it a thing about us Indians only??? What it is that makes them different from any of us??? Was Shahrukh Khan enjoying the whole thing? Doing the same old routine?? Wouldn't he have enjoyed it more spending time with his family and friends??? But I guess this is the price one has to pay for fame....
At one point of time I envied the luck and the power this man possesses...Had thought "Wow, what a life this guy has...God...why couldn't you make me so famous, so coveted???
But I don't think so now as-
I can spend time with my loved ones anytime I like...
I can go anyplace without being mobbed...
I can keep my love life a secret if I want to....
I can write anything in my blog !!!
I can say anything without the fear of being misrepresented..
Thats why I am happy the way I am & the way my life is...
THANK YOU GOD...
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