What was the last live performance you saw?
The serene dunes. The hot dry air. The crisp clothes. And the ultra-high AC blast in the shopping malls. The Middle East thrives to its beat. When we initially relocated to the UAE, the heat, the dry air, and the high humidity that caused condensation indoors, if you left a window open were things we experienced for the first time. I remember waking up and looking at the sky, staring at the horizon, imagining clouds moving inwards, hoping for rain every day. The clouds looked like fluffy cotton balls floating around. Picture perfect.
I spent a lot of time on the balcony of my 2nd-floor apartment, staring at the clouds, hoping for rain. The kind of rain that would ease off the humidity and clear the air. But it never rained. When it did, it was for a measly 10 minutes, and the water was soaked up by the earth almost immediately. Even the puddles on the roads would vanish faster than a mirage in the desert. Every time I looked up, it always seemed like the clear blue skies and cotton ball clouds were glued above our heads. It was a perfect summer day. Every day. The kids got back from school and the boy announced that the school had declared a holiday the following day due to anticipated inclement weather patterns. My head whipped so fast toward the sky, it could’ve set a record, but nothing had changed. The cotton ball clouds, aimlessly floated by, obvious in its lack of water content. I shrugged my shoulder, the school must be bugged with the kids, if they decided to give them a day off. The kids lounged around chatting with their mates in different locations giggling about the anticipated rains, when we looked up and saw that the billowing cotton balls had been replaced by some rather ominous-looking ones.
All of us walked out to the balcony to see what was happening, when we saw the clouds. Heavy, dark grey clouds, glowing green in their ethereal beauty were rapidly moving in, the sun hidden behind clear, but heavy clouds, the smell of petrichor heavy in the air, and then the lightning strike. The thunder overhead shook every bone in my body, and it started to rain. The heavy winds pushed the clouds further in and made the raindrops dance and sway. In a matter of seconds, everything was wet and filling rapidly. Vehicles moving around had switched on their headlights and as we watched, the skies turned an ominous shade of green and then dark grey. Visibility reduced.
And then the excitement started, the kids kept stepping out of their rooms, on one pretext or the other to stare incredulously at the skies, as the fury unleashed. It took about an hour for the dark grey clouds to dissipate and empty and then it just drizzled. It was a drizzle, just to keep things feeling cool and fresh. While one had their mid-term exams scheduled at this time, the other was preparing for the end-of-year boards. And yet, both decided to spend the afternoon, watching it rain.
I tried telling my spouse who was traveling at the time, about the severity of the rain, but my vocabulary could do no justice to what we had witnessed. I sent several videos and images over the following days, depicting the consequence of this rain and the only one that seemed to help him understand was the one where the lake had flooded the bank and walkways around it.
A superstorm. A once in a lifetime storm. The first storm in recorded history or storms in the region. Those were the words used to describe this storm in the media. And then there were the usual conjectures on cloud seeding and other such rumors, making me wonder how the standards on reporting had deteriorated. In this world of “Insta” everything, now we also have “Insta” detailed reports, hiding behind invisible sources presenting unverified news. I feel that more than the majesty of the storm, or the fury of its consequence, I was most disappointed in the accuracy of the reports. How unfortunate that the world is filled with reporters and citizen journalists and everyone conjecturing about causes unverified. But what we did not know then, and that we see even today is the transformative nature of this storm, an afternoon of rain, converted the arid desert regions of the UAE into an oasis, flourishing with shoots sprouting where initially sand granules glistened and created a mirage.
This was a “live” I am happy to have witnessed because I don’t have words to describe the beauty and the fury that was unleashed that day. But I don’t think this was the ‘live’ show you want me to talk about. So, the last live show, I was a part of, was the Farhan Akhtar Live. A talented artist, it was the kids’ introduction to concerts, and they enjoyed most of the show. We enjoyed the songs that were part of popular media like the movie numbers, but a few that were released only in the albums were a little raw in their finish. Or maybe it could be that we were used to listening to Hindi songs that were only part of mainstream movies, and not exclusive album releases. An enjoyable evening, the bewitching Cinderella hour it’s biggest highlight.
Just a little more 