Learning from the Outside

You know the guy who said, “Child is the Father of Man,” probably did so after a game of marbles. Not that William Wordsworth was any ace at the game but it must have been something so simple and yet so enormously humbling.

Recently, I shot an episode on wine and beer with Arun Thapar. Sure the man is a walking tome on various subjects but none admittedly liquor-based.

He can light a set and set camera angles to actually prove that there was no ‘Hand of God’ assisting Maradonna.

He can shoot dialogues faster and smarter than a bevy of script-writers who are OD-ing on Red Bull. But when it comes to wine, he will be the first to admit his sophomoric status.

He sure still knows a lot compared to the average bloke but it was perhaps this very humility that highlighted something very basic and yet very quintessential to me.

This was it: Wine should be way simpler than it mostly is.

I am a wine taster.
I try to less-obfuscate wine but I have never thought of simplifying wine to such an extent as we did during our day-and-a-half of shooting for this show which is article-lessly called “Spirit of Good Times”.
The two missing ‘Thes’ really drive me up the wall!

Less grammatically, Arun was a sheer delight. He was fun, he brought fun and he made it fun for everyone else.

I realised how much of a snob I too was earlier. Nothing that he suggested was blasé or uncomplimentary to wine as such but the thing is I had never thought of similar.

Sure, I have done wine cocktails and even indulged in wine cooking but it was the blatant simplicity that he brought the subject that impressed me.

I am soon starting a wine and beverage institute and shooting with Arun has given me a lot to think about.

That aside, I enjoyed the show. I sure hope you did too, or will when you see it. We did manage to drop the rituals and skip the ceremonies. After a couple of sips, it had only become easier.

Cheers to the child-like genius in Arun, to all of you and to the New Year.
Just,
Magan