LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CRAZY FOR STARS
Dubai is heaven for Bollywood lover for it has become the hot destination for movie shoots, promotions, premiers and for opening of outlets as brand ambassadors. Back home we cannot imagine a chance of close encounters with the stars, unless of course if you are highly influential. Dubai gives lesser mortals like us a chance for stargazing.
I have had a privilege of being to a number of events where the stars appear and behave as common men. On April 9 was one such event in Dubai when the biggest star of Bollywood was to turn up for the world premiere of his latest flick. In line with my proven approach, I had decided not to go. But my wife put her foot down, insisting that she must go. She narrated her childhood story of how she had missed a chance of meeting him way back in 1978. We aren’t good at keeping time so we were close to the venue only 30 minutes before the announced time for the event. To my surprise the parking lot had many vacant spaces, as against the situation at the same venue for the world premiere of another Bollywood megastar few years back.
We entered the multiplex, one of the very few which is not in a mall, and were again surprised and wondering if we are at the right place. Once inside, we saw people lined up waiting for the biggest star to arrive. So we knew we were at the right place and many people seemed to be waiting for more than four hours — many including children with their note books ready for an autograph and some with their cameras and smart-phones ready to click.
The wait seemed endless. Some people commented that though he is the biggest star of Bollywood, he is generally very punctual. But the star seemed to have made us wait so that we could sing the song from his famous movie in the 70s about the “limit of the waiting for the beloved”. And the crowd did sing that number in unison.
And finally the moment came and what happened is that prompted me to write this, to express myself. The star came and gave a blink-and-miss appearance. A battery of bodyguards and his own media men literally covered the star, and we were wondering how to spot him.
Prakash Dadlani, Dubai
STARS AND PREDICTIONS
The opinion article on astrological predictions, ‘ What the stars foretell’ (KT, April 11) brought out the attitude of many towards such predictions and was very reflective too. Many are inseparably tied to soothsaying which is meant to be soothing but far from that. Despite the claims of being being scientific and accurate, it is only a moneymaking business for many. Once a person becomes addicted to future predictions they go to any length to satisfy themselves and get caught up in the vicious cycle.
As a result, their present, which is supposed to prepare them for the future, gets ruined. Once a prediction is made, it occupies their minds and they will even attribute day-to-day happenings to these predictions. The thrill of future is in the fact that it remains unknown so by getting to know it before, the purpose of leading our lives would be lost. The unknown future invites and motivates people to work for it. It keeps one stress free amidst this stress-ridden everyday life of most of us on the earth.
Therefore, if predictions remain mere amusement, it would not be detrimental, but if it occupies most of the thinking, then it will certainly ruin our present. Moreover, there is always a risk of being exploited by the so-called astrologers. Our obsession becomes a source of income to many fake soothsayers. If judicious discretion is employed, then one can remain unaffected by this foretelling of future.
Latha Narasimhan, Sharjah