… and got into Martin Scorcese’s film on the third Beatle 35 years later
GEORGE HARRISON was clearly upset. I could tell from the way he was glowering at me. His lips were tight; he looked very ticked off.
We were standing facing the trellis door of an ancient lift on the seventh floor of a crumbling apartment building in Calcutta. The year was 1976. Behind him was the closed door of his house. We could hear the lift cranking up slowly from the ground floor, stopping at every floor. It would take at least five minutes to reach us.
I had Harrison all to myself for five minutes. And there was only one question I wanted to ask him.
IT HAD ALL STARTED as just another uneventful morning in the offices of Junior Statesman (JS), the youth magazine where I was a reporter. Around mid-morning, I was summoned to the editor’s room. Desmond Doig, an Irishman in his 50s, was looking very serious, which meant that he could barely contain his excitement.
“Rumour has it,” he said melodramatically, “that a certain George Harrison is currently somewhere in this very city. Rumour adds that he may not be here tomorrow. It is whispered that he will be off to the holy city of Varanasi. Your assignment for the day is to track him down, interview him and thus, get the scoop of your lifetime.”
And so it began.
Calcutta is not a big city; everyone knows everyone else. These were the days before the internet, SMS and WhatsApp, but I was sure that a few strategically placed calls would yield results. I started with the city’s thriving rock-and-roll fraternity.
My first task was to sweet-talk Cynthia, the operator on duty at the telephone exchange of The Statesman newspaper, into giving top priority to my calls. Cynthia was a softie, plus she kinda liked me.
Denne historien er fra December 2018-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
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Denne historien er fra December 2018-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi
Pushpesh Pant, one of India’s pre-eminent food writers, is back with a comprehensive food history of the capital.
Who Wants Coffee?
It’s bitter—but beloved around the world
Prevent The Pain Of Shingles
You don't have to suffer, as long as you take two important steps
The Best And Worst Diets For Your Heart
Dozens of diets are touted as ‘best’, but it’s easy to lose track of the fact that healthy eating needs to be about overall wellness, not just weight loss.
ME & MY SHELF
Journalist Sopan Joshi has worked in a science and environment framework for nearly three decades. His book Mangifera indica: A Biography of the Mango (Aleph Book Company) synthesizes the sensory appeal of India's favourite fruit with its elaborate cultural roots and natural history. He writes in English and Hindi.
SWITCHED
In 1962, nurses at a small Canadian hospital sent home two women with the wrong babies. Then, 50 years later, their children discovered the shocking mistake.
ECHOES OF THE PAST
A VISIT TO THE ANCIENT BARABAR CAVES IN BIHAR REVEALS A SURPRISING CONNECTION TO A LITERARY CLASSIC
Fathers of the Bride
A young woman finds a unique way to honour the many men who helped her survive her childhood
Fiction's Foresight
British-Bangladeshi author Manzu Islam's works reveal startling parallels to recent political upheavals in Bangladesh, begging the question: Besides helping us make sense of our world, can stories also offer a glimpse into the future?
It Happens ONLY IN INDIA
The Divine Defence Picture this: A tractor in Rajasthan‘s Banswara district,a group of loan agents closing in to seize it and the defaulting farmer and his family standing by.
