Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Happy Birthday Sir

There are thousands of people we meet. We remember hundreds of them. Keep in touch with less than half of them and when it comes to the ones who leave an impression on us and shape our lives the list dwindles down to a paltry two or three.

I too have my list of such people who made such indelible impressions upon me. Strangest part is the person this post is dedicated to is not even aware of my existence, because he has never even seem me, forget about meeting me. But what started off as idol worship years ago has taken a different shape today.

To make it sound dramatic let me put it this way: From the day I, a pre-school going toddler then, watched him for the first time till today, writing this post on my office computer, this gentleman actually helped shape my life to a certain extent.

Today he turns forty, and I have just started off on my professional career. A generation has passed. He has conquered all he had too and along the way helped me believe in miracles, in the simple fact that hard work and talent backed by a fair share of luck can help you reach places you have always dreamt of.

We all have our favourite stars during various stages of our lives, so did I. But somewhere inside I knew he was more than just a favourite actor. The pre-school toddler reached primary school and he progressed from television to the silver screen. The primary school kid arrived in middle school, he had the world eating from his hands. High school time, when such fascination is the maximum, the toddler turned adolescent still admired him and he in return taught him the characteristics of a fighter and a winner. College happened after that, he continued undaunted to win the hearts of millions and showed the path to the gawky eyed sophomore.

Everytime he came on the screen, be it romancing his lady in some movie, keeping an audience captivated at some live concert, spreading some awareness message or even for an interview saying without any pretence that he loves all the attention, the pure charisma helped this writer to dream. Now every time I go up on stage for any function, I say a silent thank you to the man who helped me get out of all public speaking fears, instilled immense confidence in myself and I learnt that once on stage keeping the audience entertained is a duty and the biggest motivator behind it is the love and appreciation of the audience. Today I too can openly say that everytime somone comes up after any function and says he/she liked my job, I love every word of it:)

Today the one time inconspicuous, introvert middle bencher thanks you for the confidence, courage, conviction and belief in oneself and the inspiration you provided.

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday SRK.

God Bless You

10 comments:

Kraz Arkin said...

I just wish he would do more justice to his immense talent and become more than just an entertainer. (I mean SRK of course). :)

Sasidhar said...

i'm also inspired nowadays......so indirectly....i'm inspired by SRK......

u wanna guess...who i'm talking about?

Anonymous said...

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....Banerjee, get a life!

Suhel Banerjee said...

@ Anonymous: That comment was enlightening indeed!!

Anonymous said...

Well-written! :-)

Abhishek said...

Dude. You knew of him in your pre school days? I'm assuming SRK has a unique interpretation, which being Shah Rukh Khan? Your pre school days, again assuming you had a normal school life and weren't a prodigy who completed school in like half the time, would be around 1983-1987. How did you catch a glimpse of him then?

Manjusha said...

A true enlightenment into the thinking of a true and hardened fan of an Indian film star.. if you remember.. long back sri and i helped edit this same article for you.. hehe.. but all the more.. i still am intrigued by your passion for the man who is still yet to know that you exist.p

Ree said...

super super! and tell abhishek about the lovely fauji and circus days. hmph. too much only people are.

Don Ayan de Marco said...

Hi Suhel, I do not have a blog of my own so I am commenting on yours. Happy Birthday SRK. I too am a big fan of him. But a bit different fan than you are. I did not get scared of dogs after seeing Badshah. (I remember you jumped on the sofa when you saw Rahul's pet at his birthday party).But I was lucky to see him up close for a few seconds on two ocassions in Amrit apartment. Also if I am not mistaken both you and me and SRK had a common teacher when we were in school.

Suhel Banerjee said...

@Kraz - With Swades, Chak De & now MNIK I guess he is on his way to doing justice!

@Sasidhar - Just found the most flattering comment on my blog, after many years!

@other anonymous - Thanks.

@Abhishek - I was nowhere close to being a prodigy, and I started school (KG) in 1990, so yes, 1987-1990 was pre-school indeed.

@Manjusha - Yes, I remember very well. And the admiration has only grown ever since.

@the wandering ministrel - THANKS! Yes, the capitals were intended.

@Ayan - Yes, brother Gayle was one I remember could have been other Christian brothers.