The Jerk !

#Year2017, Speaking on the Antaragni Foundation Day!

One fine winter morning of the year 2013, when I was still in standard 12, I was dragging myself out of the bed to attend the last lecture of my life. Within a span of 30 minutes, I found myself inside the corridors of Shiksha Bhavan College. I never liked studying, but at the same time, I did not know what I would do in my life. Therefore, getting involved with boring books was the only option left.

To my surprise, there was an unusual crowd in the campus in that freezing winter morning. I took a few steps ahead with the puzzled mind. I could see that people were hastily rumbling just outside the college main building. Immediately, I heard a loud siren of an ambulance van followed by a police jeep. Four people, dressed in white uniform, came out from the ambulance van. To get a clear picture of what was going on; I made my way between the crowds to reach to the front. I could find a bewilderment of noise, and pushing people. Alas! I turned numb seeing the body lying on the ground and soaked in the pool of blood that I immediately reached out to the corpse for the sake of humanity. Immediately, the scene of 3 idiots movie struck to my mind in which a final year students commits suicide because of family pressure.

Suddenly, a manly hand placed a tight slap on my cheeks and cried out, ‘CUT’ in his loudest voice. This jerk pulled me back into the reality. I was flabbergasted! A man in his 50s wearing a yellow hat with a bulging tummy was standing right in front of my nose. Before I could recollect what happened few moments ago, the man started hurling at me. ‘Who are you to interrupt my shooting, you third class roadside chap. Haven’t you seen shooting you worthless fellow. Take your ass off from here and clear the scene here, he yelled’. The only other thing that was prominent to my ears was people laughing at me. I realized that this was a movie scene and he was the director of the movie.

I hesitantly uttered in a lame voice, ‘I can help you manage this.’ The director seemed to be an ardent follower of anti-Gandhian thoughts. He immediately slapped me on the other cheek of my face and said everything humiliating that he could say to discourage me. Probably more than what Professor Sahasrabuddhe would have said to his son.

I left the space depressed and insulted.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I am Raj Mohan, assistant to director Om Prakash Mehra and the director of the Academy award winning short film ‘Jigar’, currently working in the post production unit of Red Chillies Entertainments and an aspiring cinematographer, standing before you to thank my Alma mater Antaragni Foundations. 

(Disclaimer: All the incidences and characters are imaginary)

                                                                                    Signing off:-Mr  R.K. Narnoli