A thriller no more:MJ

"Hey Michael Jackson's dead!I heard so on the radio"NO!! I couldn't believe my half deaf ears!!I took a moment to shake it off ,to convince myself that it couldn't have happened.I was waiting for my friend to say "just kidding".But she didn't and her face looked serious but unperturbed.As if!!Michael Jackson is a Universal Icon.C'mon!!Icons don't just die one fine morning.They are supposed to get really really old and pop in an out of news ocassionally,fall really sick later and then maybe die,not abruptly as though God just accidentally stepped over a wire and unplugged Michael from the world and went 'oops!it was meant for later'. There was an argument on whether he was really dead or not or if it was some kinda publicity stunt or some really imaginative kid's idea of a joke.I took the ' he can't be dead just like that' side.The rest of the day was spent yakking about Michael Jackson.I just did not want to believe his death and was convinced that it was some prank.Nobody seemed to care much really.Probably it was because it's Kerala.Or probably because the kid who passed the news was kinda the nerdy type,maybe she wasn't that interested in music or MJ in particular.She was almost like 'MJ died.so what?'.I on the other hand was like 'MJ DIED!WHAT?!?NO!!!! NEVER!! HE'S THE KING OF POP FOR GOD SAKE! HE CAN'T JUST DIE.HE'S JUST 50!!'

Later I forgot about the issue as I was juggled back home in my rollercoaster-like schoolbus that just doesn't want to stop at anything or anyone.I was sure he wasn't dead so that's probably why I wasn't so worried.I was dead tired by the time I reached home and just wanted to eat something and hit the bed.The newspaper on the floor caught my eye.Michael Jackson waved at me from the front page.Something heavy sank suddenly inside me.I just realised with horror that he had actually waved goodbye.To the world.I dashed to the TV and switched it on.Every channel was pouring out stories of Michael.They played the clip over and over again, of him being carried out to the white van on a stretcher,covered with some plastic-like thing.I hunted through all the channels for one that showed a close up of that shot.I wanted to see if he had some oxygen mask on or something.You couldn't tell what happens with Michael Jackson. He had probably staged one big drama for the world to see how much they missed him and know that they still loved him.I yanked the receiver and dialled my sister.She had already reported his death early morning after I had left for school.She too seemed disinterested and bored.She gets the hottest news first and of late she has been the most speedy reporter for the family.

So why was I so worried?I don't know. The world took his existence for granted.Yeah.. like he'll live forever!

I played through the channels watching over and over again the same details that were garnished differently by different channels.It was the Media's rare moment to roar out a nice big juicy chunk of news that everybody actually wanted to know about.It could rage on about it for weeks now rather than trying to stretch some political titbit story into an unecessarily big hype.The whole world was watching how MJ died and they needed to make their story look like the better one.After some time the news channels, one by one, slowly began to lose their tempo and deviated to farfetched things like how Tamilian dance beats were influenced by MJ''s unbeatable moves.So stupid! I got irritated and switched off the TV.

                                                                            Ecstatic!

I went online to download some MJ stuff.I realised I hadn't listened to his songs for a really long time.I remember we owned a black audio tape and cd of MJ's most popular hits like Bad and Thriller.We lost it among many other things while packing and moving.I felt a sense of loss..as though I hadn't paid enough attention to him while he was alive.Now dead and gone,nothing can be done.


I remembered the time he was accused of child abuse.The shot of him dangling a baby from one of the windows of a high rise is vivid in my memory.I really hated him then.And later on I just forgot about him, for years.Just a glimpse once in a while on TV,the pale face with a pruned nose and tinted glasses did not appeal to me in the least.It never once occurred to me that its was he who defined Pop Culture.He is the greatest entertainer of all time.In my opinion,even Elvis Presley only gets a place after MJ.


                                                                                                             His famous white glove

I listened to 'Heal the world' and 'They don't really care about us' .Had it some deeper meaning?He was a lonely man,the suffer-in-silence kinda guy.But on the outset he was a glittering star who thrilled the world with his heart and soul. Someone, I don't remember who,said in the news,"The world will love him and remember him for his music and not his scandals".Tears welled up my eyes.It was so true.