seven random things
I am a man who lives in the moment. Therefore I blog about things that I am interested in right now. I never write posts that require (too much) deep thought (or typing). But Pipwerks tagged me with this meme and I don’t want to disappoint him. So here goes:
- I was a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan in high school. His first big hit in India (and probably all across the eastern world) was “Dancing in the Dark”. But my friends and I were real fans. We thought Born in the U.S.A. was too commercial. We had cobbled together almost his complete discography at that time by asking other friends or their friends to get us his other albums from abroad (read Nepal). Our favorite was his Live with the E-Street Band album. (Thunder Road, a personal favorite). Imagine our delight when we heard that the Boss was coming to India as part of a worldwide tour (with Sting.) There was one little problem. The cheapest ticket for the show was Rs. 100 (About 2.25 dollars) which was a big deal for me at that time. (I have never been good at spending money!) So I dillied and I dallied. And soon it was too late. The cheap seats were sold out. To just give you an idea of how much I wanted to go, I used to cut school and hang out at the hotels where the stars were supposed to be staying, just to catch a glimpse of the Boss. (And mind you, this wasn’t easy. My mom used to teach in the same school and took the same bus back home.). Anyway…no ticket. A couple of days before the show, a friend of mine who was also a big fan, took pity and said that he might have a ticket for me. I pledged lifelong friendship to him. The day of the show came around (30th September 1986). I was really excited. In the morning, I got a call from my friend. He said that his kid brother really wanted to go and he couldn’t spare the ticket. I was crushed. I think that was the saddest I had been up to that point in my life (:-) If you ask my Mum, I think she still remembers that evening. The concert was widely covered in the indian news media. A girl from our school was pulled up stage and danced with the boss when he sang Dancing in the Dark (just like the video!). I was so bummed out for missing all the fun.
p.s. I still haven’t seen the Boss live. The last time he came around the bay area, the cheapest seats were $100! (And I am not as big a fan anymore.)
Moral of the story:If you are going to a show, make sure you have the tickets to it. Particularly, if the person who has the ticket has an undecided spouse, pesky sibling or parent. - There was this one time I was unwell. And there was nothing on TV. So I picked up a VHS tape lying next to the TV. I think I had picked it up at the farmers market in Berkeley the weekend before. It was all about factory farming. How pigs are put in pens where they can’t turn. Chicken in cages turned in to egg producing machines etc. etc.Pretty brutal. So Aditi comes back from work. I talk about this at dinner. The result: Aditi gives up meat. I stay the course just move to buying “natural” meat…. mostly (Bad Ani!).
Moral of the story: A winner never quits, but some quitters end up vegetarian. - I stood first in my class from Class I to Class VIII (That’s Grade 1 to 8 for my gringo friends). In Class VII I stood first in the whole school, that’s 7 sections…about 280 kids. Then I joined a public school. (That’s a private school in India). And I never repeated that feat.
Moral of the story: It is better to be a big fish in a small pond. You get eaten up in big ponds. - It wasn’t hard to quit smoking. It’s been more than a year now and I have never felt like smoking since October 2007. That it was easy still surprises me to this day. Whenever I state this fact in public, I always think of the late Peter Jennings. He went back to smoking after over 20 years when 9-11 happened. And then died soon after that from lung cancer.
Moral of the story: Don’t smoke. Ever. - I sang in the school choir until Class VIII. Our big moment was singing the Indian National Anthemn for the President of India Giani Zail Singh on Teacher’s Day 1985.
Moral of the story: You don’t need talent. You just have to be at the right place at the right time. - I have often dreamed of donning all black and singing Satisfied Mind acapella to some americans who have never interacted with Indians. And who are surprised that I even know who Johnny Cash is. I then want to follow it up with Hank Williams Mansion on the Hill and blow their minds.
Moral of the story: You don’t need talent to dream. And dreams don’t have to come true. - I did not read as a child. My brother devoured books (and continues to do so until today). I just didn’t read anything except comics and watch TV or listen to the radio. I read a couple of Hardy Boys and maybe a few Secret Sevens. I think I started reading in Class VIII and straight away started reading Somerset Maugham.
Moral of the story: TV and early childhood mix well. Look at me.
Phew!! Writing a real journal is HARD. I don’t know how people do it. Hope you enjoyed reading these random tidbits from my life.
January 28th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Inspiring, and filled with your witty sense of humour… You revived in me the feeling of “being such sn a####ole for not buying the radiohead in buenos aires tickets bcz “they were too expensive”…keep up the good work, Ani!
February 7th, 2009 at 9:18 am
For someone who said writing 25 things was too difficult, for someone who said he doesn’t like to think too much or type too much, you sure did a lot of difficult thinking and extended typing for this blog. Seriously…my 25 things were a lot shorter than your 7. They were also a lot dumber. But I guess that’s what you get. I loved the story about the Boss. You are more Jersey than I am, my friend.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
It is great the way you picked the reading habit and stuck with it.
Another thing surprisingly while I smoke on and off, I never developed the smoking habit. As per Malcolm Gladwell I am chipper.
Being at the right place at the right time is also very appropriate, both are required.