Inside Joseph Beth, before 12 AM, k trying to mimic a crazy teenage HP fan...
k being all nice...
Inside Joseph Beth...
Harry Potter is a phenomenon that I wish had lasted much longer...like happy childhood memories, we wish to re-visit it just one more time and it's always over too soon...
People from the "big and busy" cities in the US, visit Lexington and then tell us, "Gosh! This is a small town, I would be bored here!" I can't explain to them what makes life interesting for us, Lexingtonians...not with a convincing flow of arguments anyway, it's just not one particular place or event, it's a sum total of small bundles of pleasant happenings (which often cannot be explained to be understood - like trying to explain to a person who doesn't read books, what it is like to stay up late in the night, immersed in another life, almost as real as this one)...and standing in the long line around Joseph-Beth the eve of of a Harry Potter book release is one such event...
This time we reached pretty early, 11.10 PM and took our time watching and sharing the enthusiasm of kids and adults dressed as colorful HP characters...Fred and George, Mad-eye moody, Tonks, several Harry Potters, Hermiones...gosh, you have to be there to know what I am talking about...I would be way too restless to stay @ home and count every minute until the precious book reached me!
It's small events like these that make life interesting for me - Georgetown Kite Festival, Shakespeare Festival, Harry Potter book release @ Joseph Beth, Garba-Dandya during navratri @ the temple, plays @ Danville...small traditions that make a difference, that help to strengthen the tenuous bond that desis have towards their adopted home towns...
For me, FRIENDS, Everybody loves Raymond, Full House reruns and more recently Reba and Still Standing fall into the same category; if I ever go back for good, these will be among those things, however trivial, that I miss about life here...
Oh well...anyway, still can't get over the fact that the HP saga is over. I just cannot believe how Rowling managed to create a world so fantastic yet realistic, how she managed to etch class differences in society (goblins and wizards), everyday life and work (Ministry of Magic for example), romances and tragedies in a world so unlike our own yet making us live and feel and cry with the characters as if they really existed...I wonder which other book will make me forget my sleep and stand for an hour in front of the book store?
9 comments:
Small towns have their own charm. I would prefer a smaller town, where I can come home for lunch and go back to work, than to commute in public transport for an hour one way to work. :--) No?
12:35AM is a short wait. :--)
I am sad HP is over too. :--(
doesn't seem like it was just a week back!
sk - Yes, one of my cousins in NJ travels two hours morning and evening to go to work! Wondering if I should begin Lord of the Rings now...
ph - Yup...seems like ages ago...maybe because we have read the book and lived thru' the ending :p
Nice videos man...How come you're never in any video ? Are you video-shy or something ? :)
Got done myself. Not sad, more a shrug of the shoulder and some questions about some loose ends. The final fight is thrillingly done.
dinesh - I was recording... :)
parth - Cool! I got confused with the Harry-died-did-not sequence, the elder wand ownership and the wand acting on its own...planning to re-read the book :)
I just cannot get it out of my system that it is over already.... i know that this series will remain very close to my heart forever.... i remember that big knot in my heart when FRIENDS ended and everyone was leaving their keys on the counter top. It is the same feeling now too...
I wonder how JK rowling must have felt to bid good bye to harry...
One of my big regrets is I chickened out of going and hanging out at a bookstore for the release...looks like u guys had a lot of fun!
As for the 'end' of HP - Rowling herself said, 'never say never' :) She is probably going to do an encyclopedia or something...
musically me - I read an interview where she said she cried for several days...man, I can imagine how it must be for her, like a part of her life just ended! 17 years of work!
rtd2 - Would be hard for her to beat HP with a new setting and characters...guess, I'll stand in line for the encyclopedia then :)
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