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It barely
sits there
On the edge
Two legs on
land
Two in the
air
It’s the
table
On the edge
Of the
world
It’s before
he cleaned up
It’s after
he cleaned up
He barely
sits there
One leg on
land
One in the
air
It’s a man
On the edge
Of the
worlds
He found
food
He found
friend
He found
food
He found
friend
On this
table
On the edge
Of the
world
Two legs
were longer
Two legs
were shorter
Two legs on
land
Two in the
air
On this
table
On the edge
Of the
world
Chopsticks
and a steak knife
Singha and
Bordeaux
Cheese
burger and cobra nectar
Hebrew on a
Persian carpet
The Hudson
and the Mekong
Entwined,
enshrined
On this
table
On the edge
Of the
world
Do you know
him
Of course
you do
Do you love
him
Of course
you do
Do you want
to be like him
Talk like
him
Trip like
him
Write like
him
Of course
you do
But can you
Eat like
him
Sit like
him
On this
table
On the edge
Of the
world
Twinkle in
the eye
Smoke rings
in the voice
Fuck you
with so much feeling
Seven
courses in the spoken word
Another 11
on the blog
A round
neck tee
Yanked
down, almost frayed
Six foot
three
Jiu-Jitsu.
He found
food
He found
friend
He found
food
He found
friend
On this
table
On the edge
Of the world
 |
| click to enlarge |
You can’t
bottle or uncork cool. There can’t be a formula or a college degree that makes
you a graduate of cool. On the other hand, you can be cool to start off and go on
to tweak that cool. Anthony Bourdain was cool for way too long to think of him
any other way. It was his warmth for people, food, the camera, the spoken and
written word that made him cool. Hell, it was his warmth for life but that
sounds almost too sissy to be attributed to him.
He was cool
when he smoked and swore on air, and continued to be when he didn’t or was
beeped out.
There’s a
Miles Davis album called The birth of cool. That could so easily be Bourdain’s
biography.
For long, I
saw in Bourdain, an inspiration. He listened. He really did. And that listening
made people talk. And it made him talk. Talk a lot. Face-to-face with people,
and then that crackling voice over as if it came from your favourite old vinyl
record.
He often
took the mundane, marinated it in some Bourdain spice overnight, and made it
shine, like Graceland.
That
someone this cool could take his own life is both confounding and disturbing.
For how long was Bourdain dining on this table that was pretty much on the
edge?
Imagine
someone as cool and accessible as Anthony Bourdain having done a mainstream
show on mental health – or for that matter, just talking about it openly. It
would’ve made talking about mental health cool, right?
But even
celebrities, however indestructible they may be on our screens, are but human,
often with the same frailties. Often far worse.
If
anything, as the consumers of so much media, with access to our stars, there is
a lesson lurking somewhere – be kind.
In India
this holds true for our relationship with our cricketers – if and when India
loses, to tag and abuse players on social media is a form of torture.
To not like
an actor’s performance, and then go on to tag and abuse them is a form of
torture. There is the block button. But often the damage is already done.
With
Bourdain’s suicide, more so if he was dear to us, we can relook at the way we
engage with celebrity. The way his girlfriend is now being stalked is beyond
unkind. A little kindness from us can go a very long way. If we find ourselves
incapable of that, maybe addressing our own mental health is a start.
To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with
it.
– Charlie Chaplin
