Anupam- The Dreamer

Could you imagine the lead singer of a popular rock band wearing a vest (literally a “बनियान”) with his one hand raised fiercely and cheered by a crowd of 75,000 live audience in complete unison? Nobody, other than the legendary Freddie Mercury had the power on the Earth to pull off the crowd the way he did with his all-round performance! The day was the live concert in the iconic Wembley Stadium, United Kingdom, in 1985 for “Live Aid” for raising money for the famine in the African continent, which was estimated to be watched by around 2 billion people through satellite TV. You have to see the videos of that concert on Youtube to really believe that Freddie literally made 75,000 people to sing notes with him in real time. It was a level of charisma that only few people in the world ever commanded. And you can just imagine the crowd frenzy by looking at this historic pic:

I first saw that video and came to know about the legendary band “QUEEN” when I was in college. Back then, I used to hear the songs of the band like “Bohemian Rhapsody” on a loop. And yesterday, while watching the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”, all the good memories came to the fore. Rami Malek truly deserved the Oscar for the ‘Best Male Actor’ for his truly breath-taking performance in the movie for portrayal of Freddie. He literally lived the character under his skin and breathed life into the movie.

Let’s delve a little deeper to understand the life of Freddie. He was born to Indian Parsi parents in Zanzibar and later moved to Bombay for his education. Knowing that such a legendary singer had his roots in India was so heartening for me. His birth name was Farukkh Bulsara, which he did not like perhaps (that’s why he later adopts the name Freddie Mercury). His Parsi father always told him to follow “Good thoughts, good words, and good deeds”, which is like a sacred life philosophy for Parsis. Later the family moves back to Zanzibar, from where they fled the unrest and ultimately arrived in the United Kingdom. It was here in the UK that Freddie acquired citizenship and formed the band “Queen” with lead guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and John Deacon on bass guitar. The band was as unconventional as its name “Queen”, because Queen sounds like a band of women, but it wasn’t! This band wanted to break the conventional notions of song writing and performance. When they created Bohemian Rhapsody, it was brushed under the carpet by their music producer saying that 6 min song was too long to be heard on the radio! So, you know what they did? They replaced their music producer, instead of replacing the song! And when the song released, how amazing it was received by the audience is just a matter for history books.

When you see his videos, the first thing you will notice about him is his protruded upper jawline. He said that he had 4 extra incisors which gave him that look and it was a blessing as he acquired his massive range of vocal chords with their help.  But it was not just his deceptive looks, Freddie was unconventional in every way. The songs he wrote, the range of vocal chords he used to deploy, the energy in his voice, his enthusiasm in the concerts, the way he mesmerized the crowd with his flamboyant charm! You can’t get enough of him when he was on the stage performing. But, at the same time, he was human so he had his own share of ups and downs in his life. In his early youth days, he came to know that he was actually a bisexual. He took to heavy booze and drugs and even broke away from his band. When he hit the rock bottom, he realized that he had come too far to be left behind when his earlier girlfriend and love of his life Mary makes him realize that. He apologizes to the band members and reunites with them for the “Live Aid” concert, which they do for free! At this point, Freddie confesses to his father that he has now learnt what his father used to teach him “Good thoughts, good words, and good deeds”. And the Wembley Stadium concert was the result of the amazing collaboration between the band members.

Just sometime before the concert, Freddie comes to know that he has contracted AIDS disease (when he starts to spit blood in his handerchief). He reveals this harsh truth to his band members after reuniting with them, who sympathize with him. But Freddie told them “I don’t want you to bore me with your sympathy, that’s just seconds wasted.  Seconds that could be used in making music, which is all I want to do with the time I have left. I decide who I am. I’m going to be what I was born to be. A performer, who gives the people what they want…. Touch of the heavens. Freddie fucking Mercury!”

So, in a way his songs reflected his strong beliefs, his joy, his pain and grief and his life’s journey. The lyrics were simple and relate to what was going on in his mind. Like the lines from Bohemian Rhapsody song:

Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine, body’s aching all the time
Goodbye, everybody, I’ve got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooh (any way the wind blows)
I don’t wanna die
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all

And when he realizes that he has little time left to live due to AIDS, he wrote:

There’s no time for us
There’s no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams
Yet tips ’em ‘way from us

Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?

There’s no chance for us
It’s all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment
Set aside for us

Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?

How true he was and how true his voice was! It highlights the mortality of the humans and that we have the power to choose what we want to do with this mortality- either to worry about the limited time we have, or to enjoy every moment of it!

When I went to Europe on an official trip, we got an opportunity to visit Switzerland. We were a few travel-freak friends, who wanted to make the best use of our time there and visit as many places as we could. So, on our way from Lucerne to Geneva via Swiss trains, we Googled and found out that there is a place called “Montreux” on the way. We had read about Montreux Record during Civil Services exam preparation. We also came to know that this is the place where Freddie lived in his later years and there is his iconic statue with his one hand raised high in the sky. We decided that we couldn’t miss a chance to visit the statue.

So, we got down on the Montreux station and brisked our way to the statue which was about 2-3 km from the station. The statue is installed at a beautiful promenade near the Lake Geneva. I realized that there were so many flowers and bouquets and cards kept there by his fans in his memory. We didn’t have much time at our disposal as we had to catch the train, so we hurriedly clicked pictures and left with fond memories of the legend that Freddie Mercury was.

Adieu Freddie!!! Till we meet again in Montreux…… 🙂