Kachcha Kachcha Pacca Pacca!!!

Quite after some time it has RAINED in Bangalore. After beating the sweltering heat for some time I felt like singing “Rain Rain Come Again”. I guess everyone in Blore must have welcomed the rain.
True to my wish yesterday it rained again. I wanted to rush home after my gym to catch on the last episode of KBC. After watching the tantalizing promos for this star studded show and some teasing emails with “Aaj tho ghar jaldi jaana padega” in the subject line (with the snapshots of the show), I really didn’t want to miss it. And lo rain almost played a spoil sport. There was a very big rain with lots of lightening and thunder which left many people(count myself also) stranded everywhere. For over an hour it showed no signs of relenting. I wanted to sing “Rain Rain come again but not at primetime again!!!”…..As the rain subsided to a drizzle I started pacing towards my home. U wouldn’t call it a drizzle as I got half drenched before I went a quarterway(less than halfway) distance. I had to bring all my hopping skills to the fore jumping from one visible land mass to another trying to avoid my shoes from getting soaked up.(Hop and Balance! Hop and Balance!). Well I felt like the hero of the movie I saw some time back who jumps from one landing stone to another while trying to reach for a treasure..Hehe….

I almost reached the corner from where I had to go another half a kilometer to reach my home. But there formed a mini sagar I mean a fairly big puddle thanks to the wonderful(read awful) state of the road. My good old jogging shoes were getting a long due wash! The puddle was for quite a stretch and water was about 5 inches above the ankle. That number was a guesswork as I watched few brave souls who cared less for their footwear and walked through the mini pool. Few foot ware conscious souls like me didn’t have enough courage to wade through the muddy waters and reach our destinations. But we had the courage to ask two wheeler riders passing by to give us a lift to the other side of that small pond. And frankly speaking these guys were so nice to give us a pillion ride across the pond. I luckily found one guy who took me till the “half a kilometer” distance. I thought its only because of these kind hearted ppl that Bangalore is still getting rains or conversely these rains must have given them a chance to display their kindness. Finally I reached home fully drenched and caught all the action on Star TV after missing half an hour of the show.

Talking about the show. I followed the first few episodes and the last two. I liked it very much. I regret missing rest of the episodes. Sharukh Khan was at his usual exuberant self. A really charming host who has a spontaneous sense of wit and humour and a incorrigible urge to hug his contestants ala “Jaadoo ki Jappi”. Jappi bhi detey hai aur pappi bhi letey hai:-)( he literally forced Priyanka and kareena to give him a pappi on his cheek). I wonder after missing the chance to act as Munnabhai which he was supposed to do,he was holding the baton for Sanjay Dutt in the real world!!

Well the contestant pairs were a study in contrast. Let’s take the first pair Priyanka and Kareena. Well kareena looks like an Indian version of the characteristic dumb American blonde. I mean she gets so hyper for every silly question and the too much of the girly waving of her hands in a frantic manner is very irritating. Priyanka looked like an intelligent executive next to her and she must have been wondering why the hell this nutty gal is sitting beside her. Imagine! there was a question about Kareena’s great grandfather (Prithviraj Kapoor - he figured as one of the four options for the question) which she was very doubtful about. She doesn’t even know whether her great grandpa was elected to Rajya sabha anytime. Let’s forgive her patriarchal irreverence(or ignorance) in this matter. But then there was another question regarding some X Gibbons(don’t remember the first name), an art director at MGM. This question was about what he was credited for. Among the options were the Superman’s costume, The oscar statuette,the Majestic Theatre(hey we do have one at blore too) and some other option I don’t remember!!. Kareena promptly and “intelligently” replied it must be the Superman’s costume. Her reasoning was that MGM had made the superman movie. And Priyanka corrected her that superman was a comic strip and there was no chance of his costume being designed by a famous MGM art director which was later borrowed by some Joseph Shuster(I just looked it up in google for superman’s creator) ...How dumb she is!!Right I hope you agree with me.

And next pair was the Super duper star(sharukh said that) Salman khan and Katrina Kaif. Well Salman seemed to be in high spirits on this show(Must have had a couple of pegs I suppose. (Thank heavens- he didn’t say “Hello everyone!Hic!!!” “Lets take a break. Hic!!!”). Katrina was all composed and poised and looked regal. Salman was all like a hyper active naughty prankster let loose and one who forgot that he was in front of a national television. He never sat properly(or steadily) in his chair and frequently used to get down from his hot seat(must have been really hot for him) either to hug sharukh or to show off a karate stunt or to put his hands on his head to perform a "pradakshina" around the hot seat and the host seat chanting “balaclava”(it’s a monkey cap it seems). Katrina was looking at Salman repramandingly all the time. She looked like a gal SPL embarrassed by two hyperactive cranky kindergarten kids. She tried her best to control Salman but gave up wishing she should have prevented him from having that second peg! Then there was this question related to Arabic and Islamic holy sites. The star contestants were contemplating phoning a friend to find out the answer. My friend wondered if Salman would make a call to Abu Salem or Dawood Bhai. (Hello Dawood Bhai!Hic!!!). Salman took every opportunity to pull Katrina’s leg(and was literally trying to grab her hand at the slightest chance while she admoshingly pushed him away). Meanwhile she was pulling her hair unable to make sense of the hindi the two Khans were speaking. In the end it was all fun and farce(I suppose it was all preplanned). Salman’s unsteady way of sitting and his casual jokes and all those loony things he did. We all watch TV for entertainment. I hope everyone was entertained on this day and let’s not complain that they have made a big joke of KBC. Looking forward for the next season with Sharukh!!! Till then Boys and Gals Umm Ummm Ummmaa!!!(Sharukh khan Istyle)