S Khan

So Salman Khan is out on bail. The Indian media has been in a frenzy past couple of days covering every bit of what it feels for a celebrity of his stature to be jailed. Its crazy if you ask me, but I guess thats how news is portrayed in India. If it aint sensational, it aint news!

A five year imprisonment is not the ideal punishment for killing a black buck. Yes, it might set a precedent to prevent poaching of endagered species in future but apart from that, there’s no value add to the problem. The livelihood of thousands of people connected to the film industry is involved as a lot of money (estimated to be over Rs.150 crores) is riding on him. In this scenario, a better punishment would be to slap a hefty fine on him and use that money in wildlife conservation.

Thats mini-me with Salman and dad in the picture. We’ve had the privilege of playing host to Salman many years ago in Dubai and if I remember well, it was shortly after his super-hit film Saajan. Salman has got this sort of cult following in Dubai among the localites especially the women. Whenever he was spotted outside, people would scream and rush to him like a swarm of bees. This was at a time when he was just tasting success. I can only imagine what it would be like now!

Salman’s visit home had also turned me into a sort of mini-celebrity amongst my friends. Some of them thought that he was related to me and I never really bothered to correct that notion. :) Funnily, I was invited to a lot more parties and my friends circle in the apartment block grew! Thank you Salman.

Last night, I was watching the news on Salman’s release. There was chaos outside his residence in Mumbai as hordes of his fans tried to catch a glimpse of their superstar. Salman stood on his terrace and acknowledged the support and love that he got. He began waving and in-between did some funny poses (some Bharathnatyam steps). He might be 40 years old, but he is still that young Salman that I met many years ago basking in the adulation of his fans!