Michael Jackson and My Childhood

Michael Jackson once said, “In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.” He was a poet, a performer, an artist extraordinaire… Someone who crossed all boundaries… all cultures and all form of music.

Feels like yesterday, I remember, I was may be 11 years old… my cousin brother had come home… we called him Bhanij Dada... I was so excited to see him… he was my dear brother and my idol… I clung on to his back as he walked inside the house…  and  as he climbed the stairs, I lost my grip and fell flat on my face. The tin that covered our door was bent and as luck would have it I ended up lodging my forehead in that bent tin… blood a gore… blood everywhere…

Poor Bhanij daa and my dad took me to Sadar hospital in a Jonga… All said and done, I ended up with a needle in my bum and chha silai [6 stitches] on my forehead… the doctor put a bandage around my head, and surprisingly I felt cool… My dad still recalls the story… once the doctor was done bandaging dad says, the first thing I said was… “Do I look like Michael Jackson”??

I didn’t know who Michael Jackson was back then, but for some reason I knew, Michael Jackson was “cool”

Later that day, I was wearing my top-boot, the recently acquired Jeans ko jacket and needless to say a choose jeans ko pant … Saraswati puja was a big deal back then, my dad took me to visit our local puja… For some reason, everyone was being extra nice to me that day, guess it was the bandage around my head, but I cared least…

Out of the blue, the loudspeakers [louder the speakers blared, the cooler your puja was back then] started to belt out, what I know today as Beat It [back then it was Just beat it]…. And here I was all shaken and stirred from the misadventure of the morning… forgetting all my woes and pain… dancing like crazy to the tune of Beat It!! Accompanied by the pelvic thrust, the break-dance and half attempt at moonwalk.

Dad says that’s his favourite memory of my childhood.

Trust me, I didn’t know who Michel Jackson was, I didn’t know break-dance or moon walk. May be it was Mithun from Disco Dancer I was trying to imitate or may be it was Rishi Kapoor or just other grown up kids from the neighborhood…

When I heard the news that MJ was no more, for some weird reason I called dad… we talked about regular stuffs… towards the end of the conversation dad said… “remember when you cut your forehead?” I said…  “Yeah! Why?”…  he said..” well MJ khasyechha [is no more]… kind’a reminded me of your childhood”

I wouldn’t say, that MJ [as dad likes to call him] was a huge influence in my life, neither do I claim to be a fan of his… But I believe for those of us who were growing up back then, MJ was definitely a presence we all felt irrespective of who we were… where we were… and what we did.

I won’t say that I will miss him or his music… but I will miss my childhood and I can’t imagine my childhood... my growing up years… without MJ and his music.

R.I.P MJ…

P.S: I did not want to share my personal story in DT, but I owe it to Sudarshan… and Bhanij Daa… this piece is for you both.

Accompanying photo is a tribute to Michael Jackson’s Moon Walk, composed by Mr. Sudarshan  Tamang [another talent extraordinaire]