Paul McCartney: My Emosional Atyachar
(Gonna get unashamedly emotional and still strive to give you a straight, reportorial account of the first..and I’d like to think the most magical interview..of my life).
“She’s some lady,” he said, rolling his powder blue eyes heavenwards. “Ooooh, she’s mean. How can she do this?”
That was Paul McCartney talking about Mrs Indira Gandhi at Santacruz airport circa January 1977.
It didn’t matter what he said. I was a Beatlenut who would have gone into hysterics even if he just read out numbers from the telephone directory to me. Anyway I, the quintessential farm-fresh reporter had so obviously lucked out, I was actually asking Paul McCartney questions and getting newsy answers too.
My tape-recorder, one of those boxy thingumajigs with a huge cassette squeaking away on it, recorded the Fab One’s displeasure over the state of the emergency in India. And he made some salty comments about Mrs Indira Gandhi for having muzzled the nation. Not done in a democracy, he emphasised, powder blue eyes now looking right into muddy brown eyes of mine. To guage my take.
I shrugged, mumbling, “What can be done? I hope wiser counsel prevails soon..”
His recent wife Linda McCartney in a gypsy ensemble nodded profusely, agreeing that the Emergency was not on, terrible, terrible, the ides of March sort of rumble. “I would love to come to India for a concert,” Paul continued pointedly, placing an arm around my shoulder (and how I was blissing out). “Under Mrs Gandhi, your country wouldn’t give me permission to perform here. I am sure of that, positive. What do you think young man?”
All you need is love
Young man was doing his first ever interview for The Times of India, having joined there a year earlier as trainee journalist, my face as smooth as a dinner plate. I wondered if official permission for the concert had been denied to him by the central government. Wagging a finger at me, he said, “Now, now, don’t you get me arrested out here. All you need is love really to handle situations. If there’s a problem, heavens, it can be handled by Mrs Indira Gandhi with care and concern. Politics isn’t a one-way street.”
Paul and Linda McCartney were in the VIP lounge of Santacruz airport (international flights also left from there in the ‘70s), en route to Australia to plan a concert to promote Paul’s album Venus and Mars cut with the group Wings. “Yeh, it would have been interesting to see if we could stop in Bombaaaaiii and do a concert..before we perform in Sydney-Melbourne later this year..but now…naaaaaahhhh..naaaaaaw..I don’t think so.”
Linda, glazed and chimney- smoking cigarettes, puffed, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure..you can quote us on that.”
The entire Emergency harangue was likely to be an issue at the Times of India news desk (or any other paper then). Imagine printing anti-Mrs Gandhi quotes from Paul McCartney, we’d all be pushed into prison. So I just assented, “Yes, yes, yes, of course.” Linda, then, offered me a cigarette.
I declined, “Thanks, that’s kind..but no, never on duty.” Linda narrowed her eyes, “Duty, what duuuuty?” Boggled by that, I stuttered, “Never smoke while doing my job.” Linda, “Aaah good boy.” Me, “Thanks..thanks..Linda..your first visit to India?” Linda, “If you call this airport India, yes it’s a visssssit.”
Quicke talk
I was sweating, now. The McCartneys must think I’m not quite okay at my job. I’d be sacked, who would look after the kitchen fires? Could they be saying who on earth sent this extraterrestial to us? Worry.
Truth be told, I had been tipped off by a Qantas airline hostess that they would be at the airport for two hours around 4 am, flying from London to Down Under, and she would ‘smuggle’ me in for a quickie talk.
At a slight distance, she was looking at her wrist watch, if her superiors found out about what she had done, her job would be on the line. She looked on imploringly. I had to rrrrrush-rrrrush this, I hadn’t got anything yet that would escape the censor’s wrath, I also wanted to be it my first report for The Times of India..ever. So, help me God if you’re up there. Or I’ll stop believing that you exist.
God assisted. Paul frothed some more about the Emergency, I had to take a call.
Why the split?
I suppressed the lifelong Beatle maniac in me. I couldn’t let him ramble on, I had to get professional , I had to get material that would be cleared by my news editor, U S Rau, the most astutely balanced journalist I have had the privilege of working with me in my life.
I asked straight off why did the Fab Four split. Was it because of differences over Yoko Ono? Could they ever come together again? Linda crushed a cigarette in an ashtray, excused herself to look at the ersatz Mughal miniatures on the lounge wall. Paul responded crisply, “It was time for us to move on to our destinations. Yoko had nothing to do it..”
“Really?”
“Shut up kid, just listen to Paulie. It’s okay, all good things must pass. George, Ringo and I still meet over a pint..but John? Uh, John has been busy, very busy.”
A smidgen of sarcasm there.
Paul, what about your dalliance with Indian spiritualism? To that, he said somewhat awkwardly, “Ummm that was ummm, yeah enlightening, Enlightening, ha! Perfect word. But George and John were more into it, Ringo and I were just the cheerleaders, it was fun, yeah, um, fun.”
Flower power
That phase of spiritualism, flower power..and..grass..didn’t that inspire Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ? Reply, “Yeh , I would think so..which song do you like?.. bet it’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds?”
I nod vigorously, grin, “But I love Lovely Rita as much.”
Er, does he have a special regard for any oneBeatles album? The White Album? Abbey Road? Or let’s say, does he get particularly gooey about the song Yesterday. Paul laughs, “Ooooh, you’ve done your homework, mate. Listen right now I think Venus and Mars is my best..the others sure they’re all fantaaastic!”
He calls out to Linda, “You got a copy of Venus..with you?”
Tearing herself away from a faux Noor Jahan, Linda regrets, “Sorry luv..but I’ll have it mailed.” She expects me to dart her my business card, don’t have one, I scrawl my address desperately on a chit of paper and hand it over. Time is running out. My airhostess benefactor could knife me any second.
And those movies
Er, Paul what about the Beatles movies? Answer: “What about them? Loved doing them because they were semi-documentary. Can’t imagine myself doing a Laurence Olivier ever..never! A Hard Day’s Night was the one I think..and Help..um..think it was allright..now look we have to go.”
The fan in me is atremble. I’m with Paul McCartney, just for 15 or was it 10 minutes? Life’s not fair..I want more. More, more, more. Happily, the McCartneys can sense what I’m going through, they summon an airport photographer, Paul places his arm around my shoulder..click, click . And off the McCs go.
I’m a mess though , I wanna weep, wanna leap with joy. Didit didit didit.
Postscript: I still have the cassettte with Sir Paul’s voice, it’s in my cupboard where no one can touch it.
In my report, I could manage to work in a hint about those anti-Emergency feelings. The piece submitted early next morning was headlined, on the front page, McCartney regrets, no concert in India. Sigh. U S Rau gave me a letter of commendation, saying I had gone beyond the call of duty.
Nothing else compares
And for 15 minutes I became a youth hero. JS magazine wrote up an article on me, with pix of Paul and me at the airport.
Nothing else has compared to that unalloyed joy of my first interview..and suspect nothing will. Aaah, maybe that’s why while writing this, I’ve been repeatedly listening to Yesterday.
Written by Lennon-McCartney.
Tags: Memories, Paul McCartney
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Khalid, I thought I would write something smart here. Lekin kya kare, labz kaagaz par baithte hi nahin! Pardon my language but you are one lucky f…ker!
Khalid saab, no wonder you had such a great career. Early on in your career you had a chance to interview none other than The Beatles. Yesterday I was not the man I used to be…. Nice tribute Mr. Lennon McCartney
By the way even when John is not in this interview I could sense his mystical presence all around. I think he differentiated the Beatles from being a Pop band.
Nostalgia!!! Bombaiiii, Santacruz, Emergency… Paul with Linda… by jove!
Dear Khalid,
One movie immediately came to my mind…Abba the movie where a journalist goes around struggling to get an exclusive with the ABBAs. Finally having given up he finds them in a lift all to himself…break of his life…Think something similar happened to you there. Great start to a wonderful career !
Soooper..Khalid, can we have that recorded interview uploaded here? Please!!
Loved it, enjoyed reading flashback of your past… Amazing !
That was an amazing start ..and an interesting read too…
Ha ha. Had to look a little deep to see who the guy in the left was.
Once again you came up with some very ethereal..thanks for this..and the snap.Vintage stuff anyday.
Khalidbhai,Ekdum Jhakaas!! Yeh Dil Maange More such articles :D
TERRIFIC…brilliant..aren’t these queer moments that add chuzpah to our otherwise mundane journalistic lives?? Well most don’t know reast part of our lives are veryyyyy boring…u;ve made my day Khalid…u write brilliant (wc know so don’t look smugly)…i’m crazy beatle nutty…hug & go on dig out some more lovely treasures fm ur closet…pllll
One of the your best interviews, next possibly only to the one with Robert De Niro. And I remember you telling me about Mr Rau. Kahan gaye woh log?
Superb stuff. And only a person who has had the chance to meet their heroes would understand. Suddenly brings back memories of Buddy Guy. In any case, did Linda actually mail you a copy of Venus and Mars? Now that’d be a collectible, jah?
Wah!Khalid saab mazaa aa gaya, this was very nostalgic and certainly interesting.Please do share more such incidents and memories with us.
good nostalgic moments :-) please do share more such tit bits…
Aah, what memories. But Khalid, you did have many such great moments, when at TOI, then doing the Filmfare mag in the 80s and 90s. Many interviews that stood out then.
Notably a Rekha one somewhere in 85 after Big B distanced himself. That was awesome and another with Mahesh Bhatt…
My God! You must have just floated out of the airport that day. I would give a million dollars to do such an interview.