At
6am Sohrab or Soli, as his parents called him , was feeding bird seeds to the
birds outside his building. It was his daily routine and he loved to watch them
come and eat and drink water from the plastic bowl he had thoughtfully placed
in a corner. On Jeroo’s advice, his mother, he had placed a stone in the bowl
so it would not topple over if a bird sat on it’s edge to quench it’s thirst.
Then he saw “ Freddie” the frog , he had christened, come hopping towards him
and they would just stare at each other for a while as if they understood each other’s purpose in
life. And then go their separate ways. Soli always wondered what Freddie ate to
stay alive, and was amazed to see the agility with which Freddie caught an
insect while seemingly sitting motionless as a serene monk.
As
dawn was breaking over the skies, Soli saw a flash of bright light from where
the sun was rising. He was sure God was visiting.
Sure
enough, God appeared next to him and asked “ Hey Soli, feeding the birds? How
have you been my son”. “ I’ m doing good Sir , and you?” replied Soli.
Jeroo
and Gustad had seen the flash of brilliance in the sky too, and were thrilled
to see God and Soli exchange greetings. They waved out from their window and
Jeroo and Gustad bowed their heads in reverence as they both wished Him.
“
You have been studying hard for your exams all these days now what would you
like to do for your vacation ? “ asked God.
“ Meet up with PSY “ responded Soli instantly
and matter-of –factly.
“
That South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, dancer and record producer ? Why
him?”
“
Lord I’m a great fan of his, Gangnam Style and now Gentleman are as good as
burnt into my mind body and soul. He is my icon” , replied Soli enthusiastically.
“Gangnam Style”
has been the most viewed video online and also the most “ liked”. It is also the
first video to be viewed more than a billion times on You Tube, and his latest
“ Gentlemen” has the record of being the most viewed video online in 24 hours.”
Soli continued breathlessly. “ Please let me meet him once in this lifetime.”
“OK , HOLD MY
HAND”, said He and they were standing outside a huge house in South Korea. “ Go
inside, he is expecting you!”
Soli stood there
frozen in awe and abject delight at the prospect of his meeting Psy in person.
As he rang the door bell , two little girls opened the door and smiled at him.”
Dad is waiting for you in the hall, we are his twin daughters” they told Soli
as they escorted him into a huge hall.
“Hi my name is
Park Jae Sang, but that has transformed to Psy, now.” As he thrust his hand out
to shake Soli’s hand. You just met my twin girls, and now meet my wife of 7
years, Yoo Hye-yeon, a cello major at Yonsei
University and my girlfriend of three and a half years, we were
introduced by a mutual acquaintance , sometime in 2002. We’ve been expecting
you, please be comfortable, Sohrab”. Soli shook hands with Psy’s wife and
thought he was living out a dream, no less.” THE” PSY had just introduced him
so casually to his family as if he was his classmate. It was the greatest OMG
! moment for him.
“ Please relax
Soli, I am honored you dropped by”, said Psy with a slight bow of his head.” Yoo
rushed to the kitchen to prepare some KIMCHI ( which is almost a staple in South
Korean homes, consisting of fermented vegetables, usually nappa cabbage, Korean
radish or cucumbers, fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, scallions and
chilli pepper), for their guest. Soli was way above cloud 9 and never wanted to
return.
“ I’ve had my share of bust ups in my life ,
in 2001” Psy revealed he
was arrested for possession of marijuana and could not be present for his
grandfather’s funeral "I was very close to him. I was not there at the
funeral: I will regret this (being arrested) for the rest of my life, because
my grandpa loved me so much, and I couldn't be there for him on his
deathbed."
“I
will always consider Gangnam Style to be the greatest achievement of my life.
My stage name Psy is simply derived from the word Psycho, what I thought
was, you know, crazy about music, dancing, performance, so that kind of psycho.”
“You
are a good dancer Soli so today you’ll be joining me for my performance at the
Wembley Stadium.”
Soli
was touching the outer reaches of outerspace by now. He went through the meal
with the Psy family in a trance like state. Psy continued talking to him but
Soli could only hear the two songs sung by his icon through the haze.
As
they reached the stage the crowd went W.I.L.D!!!. The audience was in raptures
and the only sound that could be heard was “ Psy, Psy,Psy”. As the music
started Soli found himself matching Psy’s signature style of riding a horseless
horse swinging his right hand above his head holding an imaginary
rein
in his left hand , as they sailed through the two mega hit songs. The thunder
of the applause was deafening as there were demands for an encore. Psy held up
Soli’s hand and shouted over the mike. “MY FAN FROM INDIA, Sohrab Gustad !!!”
and gave him a bear hug. The crowd continued to cheer.
“
Thank You God , Thank You God, Thank You God” Soli rambled as tears of joy
rolled down his eyes.
Both
knew it was time to part ways .
As
Sohrab entered his house he saw their nosy neighborhood aunt Amy parked on the
only chair in their room talking and gossiping about every other living thing
she had met that day, with his folks.
Still
delirious after his amazing tryst with his idol , Soli wished her and continued
to freshen up.
“
Today is someone’s wedding across the road and they are playing Gangnam style
since morning there” offered aunt Amy. “ I just can’t stand that stupid dance .
It seems his horse disappears from between his legs while he was riding it and,
have you seen this fellow Psy’s funny pants. They are joined at the knees,
just imagine……… I’m sure aine Hydrocele
che!!! “
The
reluctant writer.
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