It was 3:25 pm and I was getting restless. Umzz called me when he and Chiroda (his brother) left Pune, and promised to call me once they reach Panvel. I simply could not sit and work anymore. Frankly it was not another day when I would make a perpetual boring face and stare at the computer (that's my official stance).So I picked up ma bag, shut the computer and left Leela Business Park. Once outside I gave Umzz a missed call, and he called up and said their car tyre got punctured midway as they were driving towards Panvel on the highway. It will take some time to fix it, and they would reach by 6:30. I thought to myself "there's no point watching Steve Harris's daughter singing. I just wanna see her father and his friends in action." So I settled down with a cutting chai and ordered the paanwala "Bhaiya chaar paan banaiye. Kalkatta patta with no Kathha but only chuna, kachcha supari, ek-so-bis, aur elaichi."
Dust to dust.....to dust......to dust........ I'm very allergic to it. At 5:00 MMRDA was full of dust, long haired black tee shirt clad maniacs (of all shapes and sizes) and cars. A bunch of guys and a few (non Shahrukh fan) girls were crowding a stall were Iron Maiden official tour merchandise were being sold, a chaiwala was doing brisk business, some of the over enthusiasts who drank too much were puking, and I was waiting for Umzz to arrive.
Chiroda looked cool with his dark shades. Umzz and I started doing calculations as when should we enter the arena so that we could only watch Maiden and nothing else.
Sounds very snobbish, but both of us knew that we could not take anything else.
7:25..... we were waiting, the sound guys were checking, rechecking, re-rechecking the onstage sound gears. King khan was promptly shown the middle finger by young metalheads as the giant screen screened the Pepsi ad.
Shahrukh....middle fingerr....!!#*^^**## ...Mumbai.... equations were hardly matching.
Who cares for fuckin equations we were waiting for our Dadus to come on stage.
"We'll defend our island,.... we'll never surrender"
7:49 pm, the voice of Winston Churchill echoed across the MMRDA grounds. It was time for the Gods to descend and then "there was light".
Was there really light? Was it blinding? To know all these and more, keep watching this space.
"UP THE IRONS"
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March ’07 Bengaluru witnessed the marching Maidens…
-Junky
I had just joined a new office then. My good ol’ pal Pink called up and informed me about the Maiden show in Bengaluru. This tour was to promote their new album ‘A Matter of Life and Death.’ This was their first visit to India and as the saying goes “First time is always the best.” Problem was I was at that point nowhere entitled to take a leave. BUT I HAD TO…had to…gawd knows I had to! Well, I did. Hook, crook and a lot of fluke finally landed me in Bengaluru. The moment I landed in the city, I could feel the vibe in the air. A constant feeling titillated my nerves.
In the evening I reached Palace Grounds only to realise that offices and colleges of half the country must be suffering coz nearly all young office goers (including me) and college goers (if I may say so) had ganged up there. Evening started with random performances by…uhh I can’t even recall by whom/who all. All I cared about was the gods of metal to descend on stage and deliver us from evil, amen.
Finally they did. I will never forget that moment (even if I develop amnesia). Bruce Dickinson vrooooomed through the stage like a thunder stricken storm. Gawd what is the man made up of? Steel? Rock? Metal? What? Soon I realised how challenged I was vertically. Without wasting a moment I climbed up some tall chap and there he was. EDDIE!!!!!!!! Staring at us with his blood shot red eyes and hooking all our senses. At the end of the show Maiden promised to come back to India in less than 17 months. And they did!...
There was light all right...the blinding light that took all of us somewhere back in time to relive the tale of the ancient mariner as we all ran to the hills with all our revelations and never thinking about those wasted years and we all knew that heaven can wait !!!!!!
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