The Roads Less Travelled …

The last 2 days of my uneventful life have been pretty eventful.

First, I got calls from all IIMs (Indian Institute for Managements). The process of waiting for the results was nothing less than excruciating and the final hours were downright nail biting. Ya ya I know, I make it sound like a Hitchcock thriller but the suspense was no less intense for me. It was made worse with the IIMs announcing that the results would be declared on the 12th of April. Hence started the watch from around 11 p.m. of the 11th. Calcutta was the first. Sharp midnight. Through and a sigh of relief. Something atleast. And then the ordeal started. It was made worse by the fact that IIM Bangalore had put a final calls link on their home page without really linking to anything. Refreshing IIMs homepage every 30 minutes while trying to work on bugs is not really my idea of fun. Finally gave up and saw “Baton Baton Main” for the second or third time on Zee Movies. And then devoid of sleep and hope of seeing results, started to work. Around 8 in the morning news comes that the results will come after 11. So went to sleep, instructing roomies to wake me up at the appointed time. And hardly had I slept for 45 minutes when I was rudely awakened with the words “abbe tera A main ho gaya”; and all I could say was “whatever”. And then the flurry started; B, L, K and I followed. Went to the office around noon. The news is yet to sink in.

The second does not have an happy ending. Hardly had I started to work when news reached that Dr. Rajkumar, the iconic Kannada actor was no more. Since his residence was right behind my office and at the minimum, thousands of people were expected in an outpouring of grief, we decided to close shop and head home. Had to madly scramble up energy to draw money and stack up the house with food for atleast the night and the next day. What has followed since then has shook my belief of Bangalore being a cosmopolitan haven. Bangalore has been turned into a ghost town with burnt vechiles and glass offices with broken windows with an unspoken curfew in place. Some semblance of life returned in late evening with people appearing again on the streets. In the afternoon as the body of the legendary actor was passing before my eyes towards its final resting spot, I saw for the first time in my life , a mob; and it was not like in the TV. From my balcony I could see the individuals, laughing all the way as they clashed with police and ransacked the In&Out store as well as the petrol bunk next to my house. Theirs was not a farewell of loving fans to a great actor. They were just lumpen elements out to have some fun, hiding behind the grieving masses. Grossly outnumbered the police shot teargas shells and barely managed to control them but not before they had done the damage. I find it hideous that such events mar the end of an era, the final journey of a person for whom humanity came before everthing else. A person who had fought for Kannada language and culture, but with dignity. The people of Karnataka could not have given their hero, their champion a final farewell any worse.