WHO ASKED YOU TO STAY UP?

 



“I have a perfect cure for a sore throat: cut it.”

Alfred Hitchcock

 

One of the things, that would always make me curious and delighted, was while young ones, even little ones, talking openly about their interest in horror films. I would always encourage them to talk about some of their hobbies. And, trust me, many of them would come up on stage and share with us the thrill of watching horror films!

“Don’t you feel tense and scared?” I would ask them.

“That’s why we watch them,” would be their answer.

“Don’t you feel scared to be alone in the house?” I would ask them.

“Yes, we do; but, that’s great fun!” that’s how they would justify.

“What? To be scared to death – ‘great fun’?

“YESSSSIR!!!” the answers would be unanimous… and the excitement of sharing this ‘Dracula experience’ would be pulpable!

 




There is something in all of us, that prompts us to go for the nail-biting and pants-wetting experiences in life. I was, generally, a scared-kitten when I was a little boy. But, even then, I have had my fill of ghost stories – mostly from my friends or some story books, which I would read in my hiding… I remember listening to chilling stories of ‘Dracula’… How he would be put to death and how he would come alive… ‘Exorcist’, ‘The Omen’, Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ – these were some of the early doses I have had as a boy. Interestingly, as I became older, I began to lose interest in the horror stuff – neither books nor films would interest me. “Why would I pay to get scared in life?” Yes, just as some would hate to pay and cry in the cinema halls, I would hate to pay and get scared there.




 

Why am I remembering, today, the  ‘Draculas’, the ‘Exorcists’, the ‘Omens’ and the ‘Psychos’?

I stayed up, last night, to watch England Vs Italy final (European Champions). A lot of frenzy was unleashed before this mega spectacle at the Wembley stadium… Like our own Kumbh Mela… Corona seemed to have gone, completely! Anyway, I am not a sports bhakt like my son is. But, occasionally, I like to show my devotion. Son had been out with his friends… So, I decided to stay up, all alone, and watch if the cup would come home or go Rome?

I wanted it to come home… And, along with the majority of the England bhakts, I, too, was going through all the tension, anxiety, fear and sadness… At the end of it all - that’s well past 3.15 - I was asking this: Why did I ruin my sleep? Why am I feeling so bad and lost?







Matches are not horror movies, I know. But, I think, what makes us stay up to watch the ‘Draculas’, also, makes us stay up to watch these ‘Home or Rome’ thrillers…

The dialogue with young kids, while they shared their love for horror films, comes back to haunt me:

“Don’t you feel tense and scared?”

“That’s why we watch them.”

“Don’t you feel scared to be alone in the house?”

“Yes, we do; but, that’s great fun!”

“What? To be scared to death – ‘great fun’?

“YESSSIR!”

 



I, also, ruined my first online class which, with my eyes open, I had scheduled for 9 this morning…

“Who asked you to stay up?” My wife had the last word!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: gettyimages

Video: 1. RealityMay Travel 2. Renato Lima

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