Albeit this post does not deal with the Dutch-born Punjabi artist, who I also went through great pains to see, my journey and hustle to see the actor is definitely worth commemorating.

My dance team NYU Dillagi was requested by UTV Motion Pictures to hold Imran Khan’s promotional event for his upcoming film “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu” on January 29^th. It was a big decision not to go abroad, this event being one of the reasons. However, getting to Skype with the whole team, the event, and even Imran Khan was totally worth it - the best of both worlds.

In short, the New York event was, without bias, extremely well coordinated and handled. The event did not start on IST. Everyone was seated. Food was arranged. Valentine decorations illuminated the romantic aura of the hall.  Though I was over 3,000 miles away, the pulse, energy, and excitement that rushed through all the fans in the hall of E&L translated through Skype. Dances were cleanly transitioned, Imran Khan was beyond eloquent and down to earth, the flash mob was beyond a success, and the meet and greet commotion left from Kimmel to Facebook for hours and days. Great job NYU Dillagi and sponsors J

If only my London experience was a fraction of what I just described…

At the NYU event, Mr. Heartthrob mentioned that he would be going to London the following day. No matter how far or unreasonable it would be to go on a school night to a Bollywood promo event, I made my mind that I would go. As aptly said by Polonius in Hamlet, “Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any unproportioned thought his act.” Last minute, all my friends that wanted to go backed out. I didn’t realize why until I stepped out of the dorm and Google Mapped the directions. The shortest and most convenient option to get there took over an hour and a cab would have cost 59 pounds PER way. Whatever subconscious intentions and goals were by going to this event did not matter to anyone but myself. I’ll only get to live in London once; why not explore and get lost! As a result, I set forth on what seemed a long, confusing journey with a friend of mine.

More or less the route we had to take

Saw this in the subway; couldn't be more fitting!

Finally, my friend and I reached. Scurrying to reach the venue safely through the deserted alleyways Google Maps suggested, to our dismay, we had to end up waiting 2 hours for Imran Khan and co-star Kareena Kapoor to arrive.

The luxury of sitting with friends in a collegiate atmosphere was totally absent, as the crowd of Desi’s, mainly aggressive parents and their toddlers who bore the smell of Indian lentils and oil, hyper teenagers, and tall boyfriends accompanying their Imran Khan-obsessed girlfriends. Since the event was in Cineworld in Feltham, all of us had to wait in the entrance behind a barricade, uncomfortably being pushed and shoved as if we were in a mosh pit. The lack of humor and wit in the MCs after the first hour turned from remotely entertaining to painful. I expected the entrance to be filled with people, but it was not the case. Then again, hoards of people squished themselves against the barricades, condensing the volume of people. Compared to UTV’s NYU event, I was not very impressed. The stars arrived a little after 8pm and barely spoke/showcased themselves/promoted their film for 20 minutes before getting attacked by the mob of people screaming for their fliers to be autographed. It could have been much more organized with a proper meet and greet, which would have gone much smoother, even if the actors were on a tight time-budget. The crowd was a big factor of the aggravation for many people too…While I didn’t get an autograph, I got my 2 seconds of fame by reminding Imran Khan that I was on Skype during the NYU event, whether or not that actually struck a bell in the moment. Kareena, on the other hand, pretty much just ignored all her fans and proceeded to her car. Guess it's the jet lag? ....

Kareena Kapoor and Imran Khan

After the event, we stopped by Burger King and got ourselves veggie burgers, then proceeded to make our hour+ long way home.

All in all, I’m glad I went. I not only got much closer to the girl I went with, but I also did exactly what I came here to do: test my limits and not control what’s ahead of me. An opportunity presented itself and I didn’t think twice. I just did it. I didn't treat London like a foreign ground, but rather myself as a foreigner who set forth to conquer and explore the adventures ahead. My feet were most definitely not on the ground.