Game of Thrones (GoT) is a lot like Modi. It has a huge following, it is popular world-wide, and it’s Bhakts just can’t stand the fact that someone may not like it. I agree there must be something to it, that it garners world-wide popularity. You don’t become a world-wide craze just like that! But why is it so hard to accept that it’s just not for everybody!
The man in the house has been a
huge GoT fan for the last 4 years. 4 years back he watched the first season
online. Then binged watched on the next 3 so he could catch up with the current
season at the time. I could see the admiration in his eyes – like he has seen
the Taj Mahal– “Vah what a masterpiece has been created!” He kept coaxing me to
follow it too so he would have someone to discuss, analyze and predict with, at
the end of every episode. I was, during that time, doing my 4th
rerun of FRIENDS. I passed.
Slowly everyone that I was
friends with, had become a GoT fan. I sat quietly at dinners with the friends while
they discussed the seven kingdoms. Finally for the fear of missing out, some time
before the 5th season, I said to my husband “OK, I will try.” The
look of appreciation I got from him – to see his ardhangini finally partnering
with him - priceless! He offered to watch the first season with me again, just
so that I would have company. Like an art loving student who had been forced to
study engineering, I sat down with him for the first episode. In the middle of
it someone just jumped off the castle wall and died to death! I shrieked. “Don’t
worry, you ‘ll get used to this.”, he said. “But I don’t want to get used to THIS.”
I had a sleepless night that day. In just one episode I gave up.
Every year around April it was
the same story. The man got more excited about “Winter is coming” than “Mango
season is coming”. Shame! He would look forward to it like a little a child patiently waiting all year for his birthday gift.
It’s season 8 now and the finale
(finally) and he is crazier than ever. In March sometime, as expected he told
me how I had missed out on such an amazing series. “But all is not lost, you
can still catch up.” For his sake I saw one more episode. A guy (pardon my
ignorance cause I know not his name) was fed a special dish made of his own
children by his rival - like a Haggis made of your own children. Yikessss!! I
physically hit him for putting me through this mental trauma. I thought he
would give up. But he is a Bhakt.
Over the last one week, the newspaper
has been printing a synopsis of each season in one page. My husband has them
cut out and put near my bedside.
“Ok, you like to read, right? Maybe you can
read these to catch up.” I read it. I understood nothing. “If you haven’t read
the Physics book all year, the revision notes from a friend won’t help right before the
exam,” I reasoned. “Hmm, so you have around 70 episodes to catch in 7 days,
that shouldn’t be impossible,” he said with the same conviction that Manjrekar speaks
when India needs 70 runs of the last 7 deliveries. But in his heart, he knows
it was all in vain.
So, there you are GoT fans, enjoy
the last season. Find out if the Starks finally come together. Find out if they
all die gory deaths. But let me enjoy my mangoes watching the 3rd re-run
of “How I met your mother”, cause from where I sit, sweating in my living room
chair in Dubai, all I worry about is “Summer is coming!”
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