Shahrukh Khan was detained!

Ok... Any of you reading this blog having any preconcieved notion about my loyalties for or against Mr.Shahrukh Khan, I would like to make it clear about my indifference towards him. Infact I am indifferent towards any of the many bollywood "stars" out there. Most of it which has inspired me to put across my thoughts here, have been the reactions after the incident rather than the incident itself. That might actually be the case with most blog writers who have written anything concerning Mr.Khans detention.. or so I believe..

Looking at the incident, let us actually try to make some sense out of it. I might be sitting on the fence here but then I am just trying different perspectives on the incident, not being judgemental.

The Incident:

A superstar from India was on a routine trip to US for some shows over there. The immigration stops him for what is supposed to be a routine questioning. The culprit is his name which bears "Khan" or so we are made to believe. As per some sources on the web, the actor is then asked to disclose things that he posesses in his jacket and pant pockets. The actor grudgingly bangs them on the table. Incidentally this gesture of his wasnt taken too nicely by the officers over there and that got the ball rolling . Little did anyone over there realise this was well going to emerge as a diplomatic concern between two governments!! But this is India and superstars are worshipped here, even by our governments atleast thats what I believe now.

Now the important question!! Do the consequences of interrogating a superstar(whom we dont know is a superstar) from an other country outweigh the security concerns of our own country.

I think not..

But the truth might be far from what we are believing here to be. To actually try and find out the identity of a person who claims to be a superstar shouldnt be difficult at all. And when it is someone of the stature of Shahrukh khan, it is even more easier. All they had to do was type Shahrukh and google it. Want a photo id? No problem!! See Google images.. You will get as many as you possibly can see. According to the version from Mr.Khan, ironically at the end of all of it, he wasnt even asked for a retina scan which is supposed to be a mandatory procedure over there(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0KtmuywAiQ). Whats more ironic is, Shahrukh khan had just been named one of the top 50 most powerful celebrities of the world by an american magazine- Newsweek. Just last year. So it is hard to believe that so much time was taken to confirm the identity.

Now this leaves us two choices. Either this can be attributed to the age old american jingoism amply displayed by the officers over there or an underlying agenda(dare I say!!) for either parties we might never know. What do you say Mr.Khan .. Over to you!!

"He dreamt he was eating shredded wheat and woke up to find the mattress half gone"

One of the lame quotes I have heard, this one by Freddy Allen one of the earliest RJs of this world.... until I actually began to see a scary resemblance of this in my own life. It has been three months since my second visit to the UK and here I am sitting pointlessly on a saturday evening wondering the chaotic times I had back in kolkata.. the times I never completely admired ....not until now.



For a home grown and bred bengali from the vintage capital, who has religiously followed all the traditions of being the conventional articulate calcuttan, right from gulping down the phuckas, hanging out at the park street, strictly maintaining the sunday schedules at petercat et al, and looking the best I could for those five 'I will give up all for this' puja days, this is difficult.

And all my brothers and sisters from other mothers who are sitting as pointlessly as I am in their houses will vouch for this.



This has been always the problem with us, and not just us the Calcuttans or Bengalis but we Indians in general. We never failed to ignore the inherent sweetness in those small things back at home, the regular attendance to our adda with the gang in the coffee house, shopping at garia(or the garias of their cities), a visit to the aunts place and her mouth watering biryani, not realising the nostalgic feelings that could actually hurt us so much .



But this is what probably makes one a more grounded person, or so I hope. The next time I visit home, I would probably devise my schedule in a way that could best utilise my limited stay at home making time for each of those nostalgic experiences....... for time has never been a treasure before as it will be then.