I had my 15 minutes of fame yesterday afternoon. I may appear on some local or national TV news or tourism show. It was hard to tell what was really going on.
I was climbing up the poma slope (I like to finish my xcountry circuit at the top of the poma slope to people watch for a while) when I hear this madam, madam and out of the corner of my eye I see this man following (slipping on the snow) along side me with a camera. I pretend I don't see or hear him but then at the top of the slope there are three more men all holding microphones with their camera men in tow.
One man steps right in front of me on the very top of the slope. I could have easily fallen backwards as the snow is still quite icy for mid afternoon and there is little grip on xcountry skis. I said I will need to move off the crest of the hill otherwise I will fall backwards. That would have been hilarious (not) being caught on camera.
This same man then my pushes a handful of microphones in my face and says look directly into the camera which is within 30cms of my face. There is no introductions or no explanation of what they are doing. He just starts asking me questions: my name, what country I am from, do I feel safe in Kashmir, how does skiing here compare with other countries, etc etc.
We go through the same scenario with each of his microphones, maybe five in total, I am not counting. I am quite enjoying this, thinking it is really funny but I am trying to be serious at the same time giving them the answers they want, by now I am thinking it is to promote skiing in Gulmarg both locally and abroad. I find this ironic as I am the only foreigner on the poma slopes, the real skiers are out and about. No foreigner would be caught dead on the poma slopes except me and I am on xcountry not downhill skies.
After this man finishes with me I do the same again with another two men, thankfully they only have one microphone each. I am dismissed with an "okay" and the usual shake of the head, my television career is over.
I was climbing up the poma slope (I like to finish my xcountry circuit at the top of the poma slope to people watch for a while) when I hear this madam, madam and out of the corner of my eye I see this man following (slipping on the snow) along side me with a camera. I pretend I don't see or hear him but then at the top of the slope there are three more men all holding microphones with their camera men in tow.
One man steps right in front of me on the very top of the slope. I could have easily fallen backwards as the snow is still quite icy for mid afternoon and there is little grip on xcountry skis. I said I will need to move off the crest of the hill otherwise I will fall backwards. That would have been hilarious (not) being caught on camera.
This same man then my pushes a handful of microphones in my face and says look directly into the camera which is within 30cms of my face. There is no introductions or no explanation of what they are doing. He just starts asking me questions: my name, what country I am from, do I feel safe in Kashmir, how does skiing here compare with other countries, etc etc.
We go through the same scenario with each of his microphones, maybe five in total, I am not counting. I am quite enjoying this, thinking it is really funny but I am trying to be serious at the same time giving them the answers they want, by now I am thinking it is to promote skiing in Gulmarg both locally and abroad. I find this ironic as I am the only foreigner on the poma slopes, the real skiers are out and about. No foreigner would be caught dead on the poma slopes except me and I am on xcountry not downhill skies.
After this man finishes with me I do the same again with another two men, thankfully they only have one microphone each. I am dismissed with an "okay" and the usual shake of the head, my television career is over.
Woooooooow on T.V what a star. That would have been a big excitement for you very good Hap. x x I hope you get to see the interview.
ReplyDeleteNice to hear you are able to go out to a nice place to eat. x x
once again great photo's Happy ,they'll be handy when u write your book (Lisa thinks u should do this ) ha ha !!
ReplyDelete