True they had to show sympathy to those who perished at Taj. True they felt just as sick too, when they watched in horror as bullets whizzed past streets in Colaba. True all the more, that it hurt every true Mumbaikar.
That actresses and dance item girls were willing to keep a mellowed mood for the New Year was a whiff of fresh air in a city where everyone with money thinks throwing it away on December 31 every year is a necessity. But then, how long can one stay off work? Read party? It is hardly two weeks since the terrorists played havoc in our lives. And the ones who always partied by habit are at it again. Enough of the gloom, let us party, says their mood.
Can the urbane lot not replace their pleasure-seeking pursuits with realism for once? Probably reality is more complex than my anger.
Last night we went to a post-marriage reception of a friend. The mood was sombre as some of the TV stars came by to wish this friend of ours who happens to direct Hindi TV serials. It went on that way for over two hours, as some guys quietly walked to the soft drinks area and downed a few pegs. I doubt if Taj and Oberoi were any longer part of their banter though. They were far away from Colaba, and very close to Madh Island.
For me who was used to watching celebrities not in parties but at functions and conferences back at Bangalore, it was a first hand experience of how desperately TV actors try at their good looks and celeb conversations. Fake smiles, fake warmth, fake handshakes....no their intentions are not fake. They are working, struggling to get an assignment here, a role there. Actresses who've just been out of a serial or two as leads trying to look as sexy as they looked before!
What do you do when someone you are used to watching on TV always, springs up before you in a chance banter? Chances are that while the face looks familiar, you are trying to relate the person to the character, clothes, looks etc, before you watch that fleeting face vanish. You realise also, that a saree-clad actress you were used to watching is a lot younger than she looked in a TV soap.
The chatter of this crowd was by far too alien for a bunch of us. I took succour in the company of someone I knew from TV journalism and her friend who is close. At least we had the luxury of not having to fake our gestures!
It was after the dinner that the otherwise sober looking crowd got into action. As if the pent up desire to tap their feet was suppressed too long. The bride and groom were happy to oblige their colleagues as Hindi numbers played on, and the guys danced away. Two constables who were on rounds dropped by past midnight, were cajoled and pacified by some people, and finally left. Am unsure if they got their moolah. Far from the emotion of feeling charged to change the country for better.
As some of us walked out of the open air hall, it occured to me, some things just go on. Mumbai's obsession with its entertainment, some extravagance and camera is one of the aspects. So what if a couple of weeks before, people at five star hotels did what they loved best, and experienced the most nightmarish of episodes of modern Indian history!
No comments:
Post a Comment