The man with no tie
“Ae Bannerjee, 11th-12th kya plans hain tere?”
“That is practically the next weekend. Terse insaano wale tareeqe mein baat nahi hoti? Hum mission pe jare hain ya KaKORi mein Train lootni hai?”, we both chuckled.
“Arey yaar, bata na pehle. There is this event I am attending and I thing you might be interested.”
“Aisa kya? Lemme see, abhi mere pas Casual leaves hain 2-3 and anyway saturday is supposed to be a non working day. Event kya hai wo bata, I don’t wanna be stuck at some boring event just to catch up with a friend”
“Its About alternative protein sector in India. Link bheja hai teko, check kar”
“On it”, [click clack on keyboard] “Oooh nice, veg kathi k naam pe soya chap roll dene ko ab hum sophisticated look dere hain, Sahi”
“Well, I figured since your whole vegan lifestyle exploration and going vegetarian thing was happening a few years back, you’d be interested in exploring an event like this”
“Okay, tujhe yaad hai? Abhi tak?” (I was surprised anyone would remember)
“Haan re, wo plant based milk wale tere experiments with Indian sweets, khaye the hum sabne”
“But I did a good job” (I scoffed defensively)
“Arey isilye to I am suggesting you to tag along. I am sure you’d love it there”
“Cool, see ya”
“Bye”
I scrolled through the event page and guest list. Some big names from the political and entertainment industry were on it, and foreign delegations too. The event sounded like a pretty big deal, plus it was at one of my favourite architectural spaces in Delhi, The India Habitat Centre, Lodhi. I figured it would be a good change to my dull routine anyway. Plus it had been so long since I last visited the place for some art exhibition, I figured, worst case scenario if I did not like the event I could simply waltz into any of the multiple galleries and check out some other exhibition instead.
On Day 1 that is the 11th of the month, the event started on time, 9 am sharp. Seemed fairly crowded with a gathering that pleased the eye. Enthusiastic stakeholders from industry and academia alike were flocked in one place along with activists who supported the idea. The alternative protein sector had more than just industry and growth to offer. It was about changing culinary experience, inclusion of the global food trends such as veganism, research and academia would showcase their technical know-how with single celled protein and cultivated meats. Fairly complex and complicated terms for the simple goal of offering cruelty free food options to sustain the projected population growth of the future. Session after session, talk after talk there were speakers from some of the most prominent institutions in India. It was everything I admired under one roof, great speakers, knowledgeable talks, an interesting crowd filled with enthusiastic activists, pretty much the reason I was unbothered by the absence of my friend who showed up almost 3 hours late despite being the one who invited me. Thankfully I was too excited, and made notes so he could catch up.
The sessions/ talks were about interesting perspectives, and one of the star guests was a former Indian celebrity who I really admired.
“OMG, ye bhi aayi hai yahaan”
“Ye kaun hai? Tu janti hai isko”
“Kaun nahi janta.”
“Main”
“Dude seriously?(I could not help scoff in disbelief Ye bandi ladkiyo ko bhi cute lagti hai, aur tu banda ho ke keh raha hai nahi janta? Khair, she is a bollywood actress, kafi movies kari hain isne.”
“Oooh okay”
“Waise inka Master of Ceremony kafi sahi nahi hai? Ladka simple sa ghum raha hai, but he has my attention”
“Bannerjee focus, bande baad mei dekh lio.”
“I meant it in a good way, and you ruined it” I rolled my eyes.
During lunch, we ran into an old acquaintance of mine who was attending the event as well. He had been part of a social activist group that promoted cruelty free milk alternatives and shared vegan recipes too. Another lady, an animal rights activist was there, for the sole reason that she had time to kill and wished to show her solidarity with the efforts of those who understood the importance of food reforms to prevent animal cruelty.
The day was ending and I still did not know who this person MCing the event was. It was rather peculiar as everyone except him was in formal attire and wore business suits, while he roamed about the premises in a button up shirt buttoned all the way up to the collar, and plain trousers. Nothing fancy, a very polite tone of talking and he seemed to be incharge of the smooth running of the event given how often he was checking in on everything. But, something about his was different and I wanted to know.
“Jaake baat hi karle”
“Abhi wo startup wala khada hai uske sath and oichhe wo IIT wale bhaisab b waithing mei hai”
“You know that guy?”
“Prof hai, his team is working on cultivated meats. His talk was really good, if only you were’nt so late you would know too” I stuck a tongue out in mockery
“Hass le beta hass le”
I waited for the MC guy to be free and then went up to him and exchanged pleasantries. While I was hoping for him to be the usual over confident character that is usually assigned tasks like MCing events, he was far from usual. His mannerism was humble with a personalized touch such that one would feel they were friends with him and not meeting him for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised.
Next day again, the event had started and my friend was late as usual, not that it mattered. The MC was onstage drawing an introduction to the next speaker, some topshot who left their high paying corporate job to start a business in plant based protein drinks. Truly awe inspiring journey this girl had had, and the product was pretty amazing too.
As Day 2 was about to be wrapped up, I figured I needed to say Hi to the MC at the very least. I congratulated them for the successful event, It was more than I had bargained for. Apart from being an intellectually stimulating event filled with ambitious and inspiring people alike, I had been awestruck by the simplicity of that particular fellow. I wanted to be like them, the kind of aura that makes a stranger feel like they are meeting an old friend, the humbleness of a schoolboy. I wanted to learn that, but not everything can be learnt.As everyone showered the man with no tie with all the compliments, he only smiled the most beautiful smile and redirected the praise towards his team. Meeting him somehow did inspire a bit of a poet in me.
“Uss ki saadgi ka alam kuchh aisa hai,
Wo shaqs khud bhi nahi jaanta
Kitna khaas hai woh”
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