Jovi Mania

Did you ever have a crush on a celebrity? Of course you did! Doesn't everyone at one time or another? This week I had a new haircut and an offhand remark that it resembled a Jon Bon Jovi cut triggered off memories of my long-forgotten obsession with the Man when I was growing up. I positively drooled over him, his voice, his songs, his eyes, his cute butt... oops! am I drooling again? slurp!

Anyway, it started early; I think I was about ten when I fell head over heels in love with him. I have this old photograph of me clutching a poster of him when he still had that long, wild rocker hair; the poster belonged to U Hmingpuia (of Albatross fame), and the picture was taken in his room. I wonder if he'd ever admit to having a giant-sized poster of JBJ now, hehe.

This one-sided relationship continued to grow and flourish under my tender ministrations, and showed no sings of waning through Slippery when Wet, New Jersey, Blaze of Glory, Keep the Faith and Crossroads, after which I kinda grew up and decided I was much too "mature" for such obsessions... or maybe I became too occupied with other things. But it was beautiful while it lasted. As a kid, I even prayed for him so he'd get to heaven when he died. My logic was that, since my chances of meeting up with him here on earth were practically nil, I figured heaven would be a good place to get to know him better; but knowing how these rockers lived, I feared he had a good chance of going to hell. Hence, those fervent prayers. I'm dead serious.

Once, there was a rumor that he'd died. There were always these rumors floating about in Aizawl in those times, and what with no cable TV or internet, there was no way of proving whether they were true or false. I actually had tears coursing down my cheeks when I heard that piece of (false) information. What a relief to finally realize it was just a bunch of lies fabricated by sadistic humans who had no better use for their time! I also got into a near-serious fight with one of my sisters when, after watching me drool over him (this was post-cable TV) in a video, and she commented that he was knock-kneed. Such blasphemy! She must have been cross-eyed or something. I also valiantly stayed loyal through his not-so-stellar performances (now I can admit that) in the few movies he appeared in.

Anyway, the strange thing is, apart from him, I hardly ever went through the usual celebrity-crush thingy, except for a brief flirtation with tennis players Stefan Edburg and Andre Agassi. And I do realize now, that I couldn't have chosen a better rocker to idolize, because as far as rockers go, he seems to be a pretty decent chap. Look how long his marriage has survived, and how focussed he still is on his music. Last night I was on utube going through Bon Jovi videos... guys, the magic is still there! sigh!

Now, if only Jerusha and Father would teach me how to paste links on my blog, I would have ended this with a video "Bed of Roses" where he looks and sounds absolutely DELICIOUS! And then I would dedicate "Thank you for loving me" to V and all of you! Let's just say it's the thought that counts.


PS: Here's Thank you for loving me. And thank you, Jerusha!