Closing a Passage

MK's farewell today. A mammoth Zoom farewell  from people mostly from Mumbai, the people associated with him in the present and the past. Everyone seems overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. As I listen to the endless anecdotes, stories and praises, I first feel envious and then a little peevish. Mumbaikars were always his darlings and he theirs. What business is it of mine to wonder what he's thinking right now or what he'll do from tomorrow? I've never met him in my life, I have not even one story to tell and suddenly I seem like a gate-crasher. I begin to drift and as if he's reading my mind, MK brings up our project. Of all the projects he's been associated with in his 33 years of career, he singles out ours as the highlight and without naming anyone, heaps praises on us. The Bangalore fangirl goes teary-eyed all over again. 

I braved his warningish message that he was not a social person and wrote some long sentences on WhatsApp. I've never done this before and after a point, it looked very strange and I stopped. No more messages now. He told us his life would be agony tomorrow onwards because he wouldn't know what else to do. Since he means what he says, I hope that doesn't happen and he finds something else to busy himself with soon.