When your namesake is a celebrity
MY FIRST BRUSH WITH MY NAMESAKE CAME WHEN A TELECOM COMPANY LAUNCHED MOBILE PHONE SERVICES AND SUDDENLY I STARTED RECEIVING PHONE BILLS WITH MY NAME PRINTED ON THESE BILLS
My 15 minutes of fame never eluded me, albeit repeatedly, in the last two decades or so. It all happened just by chance as my parents named me Vinod when I was born at Jalandhar; blissfully unaware of the fact that this name had already been patented by a boy born in a family bearing the same family name in Peshawar exactly two years and two days ago.
Till the year 2000 or so, Vinod Khanna the actor and Vinod Khanna the writer lived happily in their own spheres, insulated from each other, the former at Bombay and the latter at various places dictated by their respective needs to earn a living. No one impinged on the space occupied by the other, as he was too busy acting and I equally far removed from the world of films.
My first brush with my namesake came when a telecom company launched mobile phone services and suddenly I started receiving phone bills with my name printed on these bills, but with a Mumbai address. Verification revealed that it was the actor’s address. I didn’t take any action enjoying my two-three month, not just 15 minutes, of fame. As more bills were received, I thought it wouldn’t be nice if my namesake’s number gets de-activated for non-payment of bills. So I wrote to the company pointing out their mistake and saved my counterpart from impending embarrassment. May be, his mail ID was somewhat similar to mine that could have caused this gaffe to happen.
The second brush came when suddenly my internet chat partner, a lady in her eighties living in Trinidad, who was a literature buff and a fan of my poetry, started addressing me as ‘sir’, while I was 30 years her junior. At first I did not notice this sudden spurt in respect from a lady old enough to be my mother. One day, gathering courage, I asked her the reason. She said, “I am sorry that I didn’t know that you were a celebrity actor too, besides being a good poet.” She had searched my name on the net! I had a hearty laugh before correcting her.
Though I never met the actor in person, I came very close to meeting him in a government guest house at Pathankot. He had just vacated his favourite room in the guest house, where he used to stay as a central minister. I arrived to live in the same guest house a few minutes later, after his departure. Everyone was talking about him. I was shown his room, named ‘Rose’. Peeping inside, I found that the fragrance was of something else which could be anything but not rose scent. I blessed the Bacchus-loving minister and stayed put in the adjoining room, enjoying his virtual company. The only time I did not like my 15 days (not 15 minutes) of fame was when the minister-cum-actor breathed his last last month.
My Facebook page was awash with notifications condoling my demise. I took it in the stride. I could only join others saying ‘Rest in peace, Vinod Khanna. May be I too shall join you there in heaven some day to confuse these minions and together we may make their lives a sort of living hell even in heaven, confounding them with our identical names day in and day out.” n