That underrated actor

If Farooque Shaikh were alive, he'd have disapproved of what i'm going to write. Not because it's false but because of his nature. The endearing actor cautiously stayed away from accolades and made sure he was as stardom-free as humanly possible. However, interestingly enough, he cared about his films and how they turned out in their essence compared to box-office figures. And this is from what i know of him. Having met him twice and having spoken on phone more, i'm pretty sure that there are very few actors around who ponder about the kind of work they are doing than the consequences it's going to have. With him gone now, that precious number has dwindled further. Remember that climactic scene in Shanghai where he's unable to enjoy his food after Abhay Deol's rebellious character has left him with no choice? Or throughout Club 60 where he balanced Sarika? Well, these are instances from his second innings (although he denied ever going back to the pavilion) and there are a lot more from his younger days. The range he exhibited was par excellence—be it the so-called middle-of-the-road cinema, theatre or television. Come to think of it, his Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai brought us closer to Bollywood stars long before KJo's caffeine did. He kept moving from one platform to another. The most impressive thing about him was he didn't take himself seriously throughout and admitted that he was painfully lazy. Always the first one to poke fun at himself, i remember him telling me "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani did so well despite me being in it!" with deadpan expression. I don't know about others but these are the kind of folks i look forward to in my day-to-day existence. They don't own a car but are happy doing what they love. On top of that, they don't harbour bitterness for the boats they missed. They address you with warmth and respect unseen in most of their contemporaries. They are a rare specimen and it's an utter shock to wake up to rude news of their departure. I can only wish him a peaceful second innings.

Meeting school friends

I’ve been avoiding school friends since I dropped out of engineering and joined English Literature. Honestly speaking, I started avoiding everything that relates to engineering memory, school included. But yesterday, on Valentine’s Day, I decided to forego my past and attended a small get-together of 8 friends from school and the funny thing is I hardly interacted with them during my school days. I’m happy I took the decision to join them.

The whole thing was Aasif’s idea who is one heck of a zealous guy and he decided the venue too. I must have reached there by 6 or something and was shy like a squirrel. The reason was simple. I know them all and have a bit of history with almost all of them but haven’t kept in touch since leaving school. So breaking the ice was all formal followed by the release of laughter and ridiculous jokes and leg-pulling session that carried on for the next two hours or so.

I usually sound nostalgic whenever I speak of my school days because they weren’t exactly the best days of my life like I keep reiterating in stressful office. But I can’t deny the fact that it wasn’t bad either. I was reticent, pedantic, stupid and boring when I was younger and the people I met at the get-together remember me by the same profile. They didn’t expect me to be frank and jocular like Lejoy (my best buddy from school and former-colleague) or Aasif so I made the most of silence and my stupid smirk, paused by speeches on issues around us that almost killed the gathered joy!!!!

Talking of the friends I met, most are well educated in the sense that they earned their degree and some are even contemplating PG and whatnot so I’m dragged to self-pity for my degreeless status! But like Anu says, “Its better to kill yourself than pitying yourself.”

After this cheerful meet, I’m sure there is no better way to celebrate a day with long lost friends and acquaintances. Valentine Day hardly means anything to my eternal singlehood but I must say yesterday’s V-Day was the best of all time. Hope it repeats itself again and again in the coming days too.