In conversation with Angana Das

Around 2.30 pm

Mamma take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore
It’s getting dark, too dark to see
Feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door

It was Avril Lavigne, with her version of the Bob Dylan classic.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Sajal! I’m sorry for disturbing you at this time, but could you please come down to Shivaji Stadium… I’m really worried about Angana…”

“What? Why, what happened??”

“She has gone crazy!!!”

At this point, I could hear a few giggles in the background; which I could I make out to be hers’! Relieved, I continued listening.

“I have to go home, and I’m really worried, about these two. They’ve gone crazy, absolutely crazy!”

“Why, what happened?”

“Arre, Shahrukh is in town na!”

I grabbed a common friend, and was soon on the express line, which I must say, Stands Out!! Ok! Enough with the Metro!

Frankly, I was a tad, disappointed when I reached there, yeah the media hyperactivity was there but the crowd was a bit…. mmm…. scarce (the reason, being I was there three hours in advance!! )

After glancing at the crowds, and not able to locate them, I called them, only to find the both of them, hanging from the barricades!

Well, her face was all lit up, she was all smiles, (with no apparent reason at all! ) A look at her and you couldn’t guess, she had been standing there, waiting for the past 3-4 hrs!! (God! The effect Khan has on women!!! )

A few hours later, Mr. Khan did present himself, till then; I had made up my mind: I needed to interview Angana Das….

 1.       How did you start off in TIF..?

Year and a half back, when I was just over with my class 12 board exams and juggling with a lot of other things I joined TIF and it’s just been fantastic J One of the best journeys of my life J

2.       Your love for Mr. Khan is well-documented, how did it originate..?

Ya ya my love for Mr. Khan is quite known

With ferro rochere in hand, I was 5 when I walked into a Mumbai theatre with my dad to watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hain and fell in love with SRK. I used to copy steps of Kajol’s song mere ‘khwabo mein jo aaye’ that used to come on TV from DDLJ. And I was excited to see my favourite actress dancing away to ‘Yeh ladka hain deewana’. Little did I know that one film, would turn me into a die-hard SRK fan! It’s like after that I have grown on his film, his songs and his ideas…..It’s been Shah Rukh Khan all the way!! Be it dancing to ‘Bole choodiyan/yeh kaali kali aankhein’ in school functions, collecting SRK posters, cassettes, newspaper clippings or trying to perform my best in exams so that dad takes me to watch the first day first show of SRK’s next release….

When I see my 4yr old niece glued to TV today when SRK is on, I am reminded of my childhood…. Well I guess not much has changed even today My mom used to ask my dad to put any channel that has SRK was on it so that I eat I would not eat till Shah Rukh was on TV

Slowly when I grew up…. It became much more than just films and songs. I remember reading his biography when I was in class 7 I guess and that was it!! Love turned into respect and form of an inspiration….Just the fact that a regular middle class Delhi boy who lost his parents when he was so young came to Mumbai with nothing…..no money, no place to live in, absolutely nothing can reach where he is today inspires me like no other story…..

He has taught me to work hard, to not give up, to not feel disheartened when things don’t work my way…..I still remember how depressed I was when I couldn’t get through St. Stephens last year. Me and my dad were returning from Mumbai and he bought me “SRK Can” by Mushtaq Shiekh from the bookstore, I started reading it at the airport as our flight was delayed and came across just what I needed at that point….. Shahrukh was also rejected by the same college and obviously life did not end there, so yes, some way or the other ‘Shah Rukh Khan’ the man himself has a personal connect with all his fans, guess all SRK fans will tell you this; for us he is much more than our favourite actor whose films we go to watch on a Friday since last 20 years…it is much more than that..I can tell you this coz there have been so many incidents like this in my life itself! There have been many special incidents in my life courtesy SRK.

Even today if I am sad, hurt or feeling low, the first thing I do is watch a SRK interview….Its like he has all the answers for us..Shah Rukh Khan is different….he is way too special….

After my dad, if someone I look up to it is SRK

 

3.The long wait was finally over, a few days back; when you met Mr. Khan, when he was in town to promote Ra. One. How was the whole experience, the wait, the euphoria, we want it all!!

It surely is the best day in my life till date….
To see him LIVE talking, singing, dancing…. It was a dream come true!! I got to know in the morning the details of the venue and timing and I really want to thank two of my dear friends who came along with me. We reached the venue at about one and SRK was supposed to arrive at seven So yeah, it was a wait of around six hours(Was standing throughout ) and I guess you should also interview Sushmita as to how I was behaving She was scared to leave me alone so much so she called you and a friend there as well just for mine and Aishwarya’s safety I was pretty surprised to see Aish behaving the same way as me We ended up paying the lady at the ticket counter more and then asked for the change…. That explains our excitement I guess!!

The other aspects were these: My hands were freezing and I felt the December chill in October
I was not able to type a sms also….Just the thought that I might just end up seeing “the man” was a feeling that can’t be described!
It was great to see such crazy die-hard fans there…. I came across a girl who is a fan since Fauji, the other lady who was going to airport with her husband, disowned him and said ‘You carry on, I am not leaving till I see SRK The husband had no other option but to wait beside her

So yes, I have never experienced something like this, ever, in my life!

People shouting, screaming, “SRK! SRK!”!! Now even I am not able to recollect as to what all happened…. Just a few days back I was asking my dad (he was really sweet to have waited with me for 5 hours… I love him ) “Papa, You remember when did you spot SRK first, when he was walking towards the stage or when he was on stage?” and my dad replied, “When will this SRK hangover be over ” But it was really sweet of him to be there with me throughout, he was the one who also fulfilled my desire to visit Mannat last year..can’t thank him enough
As to what I can recollect now, I saw him on stage first and there were people around me who were in tears…. I don’t remember how I reacted….I mean I had seen such visuals on TV from various parts of the world where fans wait for days and break into tears on catching a glimpse of him..

I guess I just went quite and I was numb….Tears did trickle down my eyes when SRK said “Thank u so much guys, I am what I am because of you guys!” and I heard every single guy pushing each other and requesting the security guys “Dekh ne do na bhaiya please bachpan ka sapna tha aaj jakar pura hua hain….”
In process I was hurt, bruised and bled too; only to realise it the next day morning as that day was just I don’t know how to describe it….I had lost all my senses…..
I came back home sat on my bed, switched on the fan and just cried my heart out…..
The feeling was something that I can’t describe, maybe that’s why I could not end up writing a piece on seeing Shaha Rukh despite you all asking me, I am in short of words whenever I sit to pen down something…..

I was talking to a very dear friend the other day who is also a SRK fan that how did he feel when he first saw SRK at Eden gardens earlier this year and he replied the same that “yaar for about five hours that I was standing, I was so damn confident but when I saw him I was numb..I did not how to react!”

It is like that for us..

We have learnt so much from Shah Rukh Khan in life..its like with each interview of his, with each article on him, we have learnt how to work harder and make it bigger..
I just want to meet Shah Rukh Khan someday just to tell him how much he means to me..how much I have learnt from him and how much difference he makes to his fans worldwide..for us he is family

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