Back From Meeting A Legend

While I was off the grid for the last few days  in New York City, much seemed to have happened. Harbhajan Singh ultimately got a wicket, Mohammed Azharuddin flashed once again outside the off-stump with his stick and knocked the feathers of a shuttle-cock [Link] (obligatory Gunda reference:  Azhar hain jurm se nafrat karney wala, garibon (match-fixers) ke liye jyoti, aur gundon ke liye jwala) , the Indian woman’s hockey coach was accused of doing too much of “Chak De” [Link], Arundhati Roy advanced yet another step towards her Nobel Peace Prize [Link] making it to the list of Forbes (evil capitalist alert) world’s most inspiring women  and  Wikileaks confirmed that the ship of government is the only ship that leaks from the top [Link].

As to the so-called classified information leak, while it may be big news in the US with Pakistan’s duplicity in the AfPak region being exposed for me it was more like “Tell me something I don’t know.” The day Wikileaks has the full Amar Singh transcripts [link] or the gory inconvenient truths behind all Al Gore globally warming shenanigans [link] or details of Zardari’s five female Turkish “guides” whose services were not compensated for by the Pakistanis [links], I would be mildly interested.  But not now. For the present, what was infinitely more intriguing was attending an underground party in the Bronx, thrown in a warehouse, with a “macabro” theme, wherein along with retro erotica from the 1920s being projected on the walls, there were decks of old Tvs showing, in addition to ancient Japanese horror and psychedelic patches of color——hold your breath——Mithun-da’s “Disco Dancer” and Shahrukh Khan’s “Duplicate”.

This post is of course not about that. It’s intent is to share one of my life’s most memorable moments,  wherein, as part of the workshop I had gone to NYC to attend, I was able to read sections of my book “May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss” to the legendary Alan Zweibel, one of the original writers for “Saturday Night Live”, multiple Emmy-winner and winner of the Thurber Prize for American humor, whose credits include hits like “Monk” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. The workshop was truly an educational experience and not just for the words of wisdom and encouragement from someone who has mastered the art of writing comedy. It was instructional in the sense of how Alan Zweibel truly encapsulated the epitome of the ancient ideal of the “Acharya” or the one who instructs through his own behavior ——-for someone so famous, he was so amazingly down-to-earth and friendly that none of us felt, even for a second, overawed or to use as an old SNL-ism “Farklempt”.

In all, an amazing experience.

Now back to the tedium of life.