Meeting and greeting dignitary's at public functions is always a matter of awe, seeing them on various media channels and seeing them in person is also a charm in it's own, just remembered how i bumped on to Collin Powell last spring in the UK
The Indian diaspora in midlands, UK had held a function to commemorate something (they hardly need reasons to party) and its always a house full affair, British Indian community gathers in big numbers, sing to old Hindi movie tunes and then dance in a way that would shame any one whose got a left leg or two !! plus one can enjoy tastiest of Samosas & there's a plethora of aunty's who are finding suitors for their Desi darlings (term for pretty British born Indian girls)..
Last spring to conquer my boredom i found myself in midst of one such event, lo and behold they had managed to get General (rtd) Collin Powell as the chief speaker, having just finished his AMAZING autobiography 'My American Journey' i couldn't resist paying a visit, of course chance to dance with pretty Asian girls was always on the agenda
Powell to his soldier days credit is an awesome personality to encounter in person, tall, well built & silver gray army crew cut making him a poster boy of 4star general's, his speech which has seen years of state department service is polished in every aspect...in synopsis he cuts out as a very much in control of the situation kind of person
The event was also a good photo-op for me, so after all the hoopla i went up to him with great courage and awe and said 'hello sir', to which i got a courteous reply 'hello how are you' (there wasn't anything else he could have asked), 'i just finished your biography, it was a great read' i managed to utter and he smiled back, i thought now we would be all over Gandhi, Indian Democracy and IT Bangalore, but to my surprise, he replied 'Indian girls are very pretty, wouldn't you agree to it', 'sir i can arrange for a photo with a few of them i know' i replied to which he happily obliged & went on with his business of smiling and shaking hands
For a persona as his i was greatly amazed to know he had a human side, for the Indian girls around it was a face book photo op which they didn't battle an eyelid to miss and for me....well i was just happy i got to meet Collin Powell in person
