| Michael
in India – As told by an Indian Entertainment Magazine
– Cine Blitz Exclusively.
 The
King of Pop, arrived in Mumbai on October 30th. The svelte and
sexy Sonali Bendre, clad in traditional Maharashtrian(Indian
State – Maharashtra) nine yard saree, performed the aarti
and tilak for Michael at the airport and he was quite taken
up with the entire ceremony. When he was being driven out of
the air port in his 20-car motorcade, he stopped his Toyota,
got rid of his security guards and stepped out to meet the urchins
lined up along the highway to catch a glimpse of him. He picked
up several children and hugged and kissed them. He then spent
a few minutes with them before he proceeded to the Shiv Sena
chief, Bal Thackeray’s residence, Matushree, in Bandra
East. Here he was presented with a silver tabla and tanpura,
which are musical instruments from India.
Later
that evening, at the special bash organized in his honour by
Bharat Shah (Organiser of the concert) at the Oberoi, he made
a mere three minute appearance. Apparently, the singer had a
late night before and wanted to retire to his room early. The
crème de la crème of the Indian Entertainment
Industry and Royal Families were there. Most of them of course,
were left high and dry except for the actor Anupam Kher perhaps
who to the initiative of jumping on the stage and grabbing Michael’s
hand with a, ‘Yeah Michael, yeah!’. Shobha De (A
Writer) was the next to gain inspiration and she even told the
Press later, “Shaking hands with him was like an orgasm!”
Bharat Shah presented Michael with a silver replica of the Taj
Mahal at the same party.
 The
Indian media myth about Michael being extremely reclusive, does
not hold true anymore. During his stay at The Oberoi Hotel,
he surprised the entire staff by mingling freely with his fans,
who would drop in at the hotel to catch a glimpse of the King
of Pop. He would smile and blow kisses to all his fans and shake
hands with as many of them as possible.
According to Butler Manager, Sandeep Walia, who was attending
to him with a team of three butlers, Michael loves sweet white
wine. That is probably the only kind of alcohol that he consumed
during his stay at the Oberoi. Apart from that, he loves orange
drinks, Fanta being his favorite and a special German orange
drink, Gatorade, which he carries with him. Michael drinks a
lot of Diet Coke as well, prefers his drinks at room temperature.
Jackson has a penchant for chocolates too, so The Oberoi made
sure there were chocolates, of all shapes, sizes and flavours
kept in every reachable corner of his room.
 Michael
Jackson likes a lot of festivity around him. The Kohinoor Suite
at the Oberoi was decorated with flowers, balloons, confetti
and bowls of sweets and chocolates to give it a spirit of celebration.
While in his room, Jackson does not like to use the air-conditioner.
He also likes his space. His body-guards have been instructed
not to come close to him to give him enough space to move around.
Okay this is something that will really please his fans in India.
According to one of his security men, India is not his new love.
Jackson has always wanted to visit the country and the last
time his show got cancelled he was very disappointed and upset.
Guess
what Michael had for breakfast? On his first morning here, he
ate masala dosa and the day after that, he had spicy alu paranthas
with butter. His other meals mainly comprised of butter naans,
butter chicken, tandoori chicken and spicy vegetable curries.
His personal chef is of Indian origin and she co-ordinated his
meals with the other chefs at the hotel. Michael Jackson definitely
has a predilection for Indian food but wait till you hear this.
According to the hotel staff, he got naans (Enough for an army),
tandoori chicken, dishes cooked in butter gravy and lots of
paranthas packed, on the morning he was flying out of India.
 Jackson
asked The Oberoi for an LLD player and a television, as well
as a CD player for his personal use. He travels with his own
library of CDs and LDs and spends most of the time indoors,
watching films.
The world knows he loves kids and there are many in our country
who wish, they were kids, because Michael only seemed to have
time for them while he was here. At his request, a high tea
was organized at the pool side where kids from orphanages were
invited to meet and play with him. He gave them gifts and chocolates
that he had brought with him. There was a party for kids organized
in his room as well, on the day of the show itself. About 50
children were invited and he ordered cakes and burgers for them.
He made the kids sit on his lap and played with them. He had
asked the hotel to provide him with a few saris which he wanted
draped around the sofas during the photo session with the kids,
to give his pictures the ethnic effect.
He would pick up his own newspapers from outside the door, which
was normally very late in the morning. Michael is a late riser.
His meal timings were also odd. He never had his breakfast before
12 noon and dinner before 1.00 pm. When he returned to the hotel
lobby after his mind blowing show, he folded his hands in a
namaste and blew kisses to all his fans before he got into the
elevator. According to the staff, he was as energetic after
the show, as he was before it perhaps! The two-hour-15-minute
long performance hadn’t fatigued him in the least.
 Burkhas
were arranged for Michael because he wanted to visit Aasha Daan,
Mother Teresa’s ashram in Byculla. But due to an extremely
tight schedule he wasn’t able to fulfill his desire.
The
Show –
November
1 at the Andheri Sports Complex was a spectacular event. The
special effects were truly awesome and as for Michael, he can
deservedly be called the best performer in the world. For those
present at the show, it was an out of body experience!
For
his show Michael flew in all his equipment in three Russian
Antanov cargo planes. The stage was 60 ft. deep and 210 ft.
wide and he had three teams to work on it – an assembling
team, a dismantling team and a standby team as well. That’s
what they call perfect organization. It took at least 24 hours
to erect the whole structure and prepare it for the show and
less than six hours to bring it down. The green room was beneath
the stage and had four divisions – The meditation room,
the rest room, the photography room and the VIP guest room.
The rest room was ornately done in true Indian tradition, with
regal décor befitting the King (read Maharaja) of Pop.
This room had 20 air-conditioners installed and was christened
the Air-Conditioned Marquee. Michael uses the photography room
for photography sessions. The fortunate few who were allowed
to accompany him under the stage, were his bodyguards, his tour
manager and his wardrobe manager.
 The
tank that was used on the stage as a prop in “The Earth
Song” was made of blocks of plywood, though it appeared
as authentic as a battle tank. The other props, such as the
dilapidated buildings and the shuttle Michael used to make a
grand entrance in, was also made of collapsible material that
could easily be dismantled. She show had its own tender moments,
when it left everyone present in tears. And that included Michael
who was moved to tears at the overwhelming response he received
from the Indian audience for the first time. “This has
been the best show of the HIStory tour” he later admitted.
A special route was chalked out for Michael to drive into the
Andheri Stadium with his entourage. And it was only at 8.30
pm that he actually reached the stadium.
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