The opportunity of seeing Mr Amitabh Bachchan for a second time round was a greatly awaited event for me. Till the afternoon of the 20th of August, 2013, THE DAY when this possibility of seeing Mr Bachchan would have become a reality, we were not sure whether we would be able to get the passes for the BIG event.
Just at the last minute we got the passes and our joy, excitement and anticipation knew no bounds. Only thing was that we had to reach the venue, India Habitat Centre, by 5 pm. And that day, the Big B day for us, as luck would have it, it seemed as if Delhi was receiving the rains of not only one entire season but probably the rains of an entire century.
A distance which normally takes us only about 25 minutes, took us almost two and a half hours that day. Everytime we got stuck in the unmoving traffic (which was pretty often..) the only two things that attracted my attention were- the endless, stuck vehicles on the water filled road ahead and ......the two little passes for the event in my husband's shirt pocket. When we were still stuck up in the water clogged roads till about 5.30 pm , i had given up all hope of seeing Mr Bachchan. After all there are phrases like "there are many a slip between the cup and the lip", made for such occasions!!
Anyway, there seeming absolutely no possibility of reaching the venue at all, we were almost thinking of returning home from wherever we got to turn the car next. Then as the traffic once again started to budge, our hopes were suddenly lifted........but only for a few seconds. Because after having been stuck up in front of Leela Palace hotel for what seemed like eternity, just when we thought we could make it, as we decided to take the road right ahead, we in for a shock. There in front us us lay a low lying road upto the knees in water and many vehicles on the side. All these
vehicles had broken down trying to wade through the surging waters ahead.
But, we finally did manage to speed through that high water canal and thankfully reached the other side in true filmy style. Touching almost 6 pm, we did reach the stein auditorium. The programme had begun already and even as i rushed inside the over houseful hall, i thought i had missed the very personality i came to get a glimpse of. After all, we were a full one hour past the scheduled time of the event.
Anyway, we stayed put and within minutes the screening of the film on Amitabh Bachchan that was going on, ended. And without much ado, in walked the great Mr Bachchan, preceeded by Mr Shashi Tharoor and followed by Mr Prakash Jha.
The moment Amitabh Bachchan's baritone echoed in the hall, there was total excitement all around. As the panel discussion proceeded, unfolding the many facets of Mr Bachchan's personality, i totally forgot about all the troubled hours we spent stuck in the traffic that evening. It was now just a beautiful evening to remember and cherish all my life.
Now with two such personalities, who i admire a lot, on stage together, i was elated. But, yes Mr. Tharoor, you rightly quipped during the programme, that for once a Stephanien (Mr Tharoor) had been far over shadowed by a Kirori Mal Collegian (Mr Bachchan) !!!
Amitabh Bachchan's greatness is so modest and humble that we hardly relaized we'd been watching him, listening to him for almost an hour and a half. And...finally when the programme ended and he got up to come near the crowd and shake hands with people, all hell broke lose. people, forget the girls and the women offcourse, even the men- including much older men, were literally falling all over the place (many even fell on to the chairs with others tripping over them) just to be able to TOUCH......Amitabh Bachchan.
And....even this was not enough..........a little later, many people (including the writer here.....) waited in the rain outside, near his car, to get a glimpse of him again and again..................and again till he finally drove out of the India Habitat Centre gates..........
Well...THAT is the magic and aura of the man called Amitabh Bachchan ....!!!!!!
//MG
