Not all those who wander are lost

Not Meeting Vivek

Vivek Oberoi as Kisna

Omigod, I was so inspired to write some notes from the road… what I’ve been up to here in India so far. And then… and then I read back on the Twitter updates since last time I came online. AARRRGGGHHHH!!! I can’t belive this!!! Life is so bloody cruel, teasing and tempting… withholding.

Listen, would you believe me if I told you that Vivek Oberoi was having lunch yesterday at the very same restaurant as I was yesterday? He actually was, it’s true. He has the pictures to prove it and all (check http://twitter.com/vivek_oberoi) The only problem is that I missed him by a mere few minutes (yes, literally minutes!!). I’m SO DISAPPOINTED!! :’( I had no idea he would be here in Chennai, and even if I had I wouldn’t ever have dreamed that he’d come to the very same part of town, even my fav restaurant to have lunch… *sigh*

Vivek’s energy has for some reason been strongly present during this trip. On the flight to Istanbul I was listening back on a couple of Love Bollywood’s podcasts, two of which were interviews with Vivek. On the flight to Mumbai I sat next to Abha, a girl who actually had lunch with him once (sounds funny now, thinking that we even spoke about it… and that I told her how badly I wished I would get to meet him someday!), and who has been involved in Prince: It’s Showtime. I went to watch Kurbaan in the theatre the very first day I landed in Mumbai, and his performance totally amazed me. Also, I picked up several of his films that I hadn’t manage to find to order online, when I went to Rhythm House (where I missed Abhay Deol with just an hour or two… apparently he was attending an event at a museum in Kala Ghoda, literally across the street in other words, at the very same time… which I found out reading the newspaper the following morning. Life is cruel, I told you!!!) and got a few more DVD/VCD with the kind help of Dhireen at Music Centre in Fort. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that Vivek has been in my dreams at night too… I guess that’s simply what you get for watching so many of his films back to back, but I’m not complaining ;) In one of the dreams I actually got to meet him, and my very brave dream-me even tried to make him understand that I could actually be that girl he talked about in one of his interviews, “that special girl from the ordinary world who can make his world extraordinary”. Hee hee… One morning in Mumbai, somewhere between sleep and awake, I heard someone playing the flute outside my window, and there he was again… dream or fantasy… as Kisna. (If you haven’t already, watch his film Kisna: The Warrior Poet!). About a week or two before I set out on this trip I chatted with him on the web and it was soo much fun! I remember making a silent wish that I’d one day get to meet with him in person… Some time back I even typed up a blog post on why I love and admire Vivek so much (him as an actor, but also the glimpses we sometimes catch of the real person behind the actor…), but I didn’t really get to finish it so it’s still here somewhere as an unpublished draft. And so it goes on…

Vivek, if you’re reading this… you make me very curious and I’d love to get to know who you really are, behind the actor persona. And so would millions of other girls too, ya ya I know… but just in case we end up having lunch at the same restaurant on the same day again, would you please let me know in advance so we can at least share a table? ;) I think you might find me interesting too :)

When I woke up yesterday I soon found out that I had somehow lost my voice during the night. Would’ve been quite ironic after all, if I had ran into Vivek completely mute, wouldn’t it? My voice still isn’t back, by the way. I wonder if this is another one of Life’s fierce grace lessons… I’ll keep my fingers crossed, hoping that I’ll run into him some other day and place.