Day 22 - Antha Oru Naal (One day Celebrity)

To say that “I am lucky” is an understatement. I have always been lucky, more than lucky. I always got what I wanted. Family, friends, job, education, love etc. etc… I should find some other word to describe it - “Lucky” is really an understatement. But my biggest luck – June 10 2004 here it is!!!

June 8, 2004

• I woke up in my flat, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai.

• I wore an “I have to wash it at least today” category towel and took bath in cold water.

• There was a small problem with the television. It gets switched off when I switch it on. Got very bored.

• There were a few women from the nearby slums fighting like anything near the ground floor. I learnt two new Tamil words which I will never use.

• The local plumber knocked the room and asked me to donate for some Pooja. I refused. He gave me a look which said “Why do people like you still live in this world?”

• I had breakfast, lunch and dinner alone.

June 10, 2004

• I woke up in Maurya Sheraton, Delhi. (Alex told me that Clinton had stayed there when he came to India.)

• The television in my room had a separate channel to show the channels and the numbers. (They don’t call it a room. These semi-literate people call it a suite. I practiced a lot to pronounce it "sweet" and not "soot")

• For the first time in my life I wore a bath robe. (Or was it the first time I saw it?)

• I took bath in the bath tub for an hour. (Definitely the first time I am taking a...I mean, I am seeing a bath tub)

• Aishwarya Rai was staying one floor below my room.(Has nothing to do with the previous statement)

• This guy smiled at me when I asked him to pose for a photograph. He had a Mangal Pandey moustache.... no he actually was Mangal Pandey. Aamir Khan too stayed in the same hotel. (This actually has something to do with the previous statement - both Aish and Aamir represented Coke)

• Sunil Mittal asked me which place I was from. (Enga oorlayum Airtel connection irukku theriyumaa?)

• Ajith Pal Singh (the captain of the Indian hockey team, last time India won the Olympic gold) traveled in the same bus as I.

• Palache Sen sat next to me. (and gave a boring lecture on how passionate he was about India)

• I shook hands with Aishwarya Rai.(There is a full length comedy story behind it)

• Shankar Mahadevan had dinner with me, same table.

• Drums Sivamani asked me in Tamil, “Ennappa naan nallaa vaasichaenaa?”

• I talked to Mandira Bedi and had my brother talk to her over the phone. (My brother told me later that he asked her, “What is your role in Manmadhan?”. Her reply was - “Wait and Watch” - What else would she say about that role?)

• Saw Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya together on the stage.(Rumours are afloat that the first spat between them was after I shook hands with Aishwarya)

• Somebody said “Excuse me”. I was obstructing her way. I turned back to see Simran.

• Saw Charu Sharma, Sheila Dikshit, Vijay Mallaya, Sunil Dutt, Anjali Bhagat, Rahul Bose, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, L. Subramaniam and a lot of celebrities.

• I was not that lucky. I could not see Rahul Dravid. (It is a little too much to ask for but I would have sacrificed all the above for that)

• Should be easy to guess why I was a celebrity

June 12, 2004

• I woke up in my flat, Thiruvanmiyur.

• I wore an “I have to wash it at least today+4” category towel and took a bath in cold water…

Hmm.....And life continued as usual.