Of that chance encounter with ‘The Goldie Hawn’ at a Luxury Hotel in Jaipur

The writer counts a chance meeting with Goldie Hawn in Jaipur as among the best experiences he had in the Pink City, where he worked with a national daily

By Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi/Consulting Editor

I don’t know why, but on Sunday, November 20th from the moment I got up, I slipped into a trip down memory lane – of the pleasant ones from my stay in the Pink City of Jaipur. Memories that still retain their old-world charm – of a city that’s modern and boasts beautiful malls, a metro, and most importantly, friendly, hospitable and affable people.

Two decades ago too, when I spent a little over four years in two spells, going to an office in the heart of the city – Bani Park, just behind the Sindhi Camp Bus Terminus as the crow flies – living in a small city (small compared to the metropolis of Delhi from where I was transplanted by fate, cruel as I thought at that time) also presented me with a culture shock of sorts (some pleasant and few not so).

Overall, one has memories of relatively more approachable and inviting neighbours, but too much dominance of the Hindi language than it was in Delhi. Being an English language journalist in Delhi, mostly we could get away without using Hindi, unless of course a particular beat or a story demanded it. Jaipur was different. Even press releases were in Hindi and one was becoming a poor translator into English and constantly stuck when dealing with difficult Hindi words and phrases that were akin to Greek and Latin to me.

But overall, the experience and experiences of the Pink City sure fill me up with nostalgia like no other city where I lived in India does. Perhaps the experiences were too memorable, like this one encounter I had with Academy Award-winning Hollywood actor par excellence – Goldie Hawn.

The very same Goldie Jeanne Hawn!

Yes, the very same Goldie Jeanne Hawn, the American actress who rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in in the late sixties and later had a successful Hollywood film career spanning many films. In 1969, she won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her performance in 1969’s Cactus Flower. Some of her other notable films include There’s a Girl in My Soup, The Sugarland Express, Private Benjamin, Overboard, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club and The Banger Sisters.

That I was able to spot her from 100 metres from among a bunch of similarly attired foreigners, I think was a combination of my memory and of course great luck. I owe it to the CEO of a company I was interviewing at that time over coffee in the mild winter sun. He was sportive enough to let the journalist in me catch the bigger ‘newsmaker’ and did not mind one bit that I left the table to rush across to meet arguably one of the top Hollywood actors of our times.

Just about my height

No, I was not mistaken about her identity. Indeed, it was Goldie Hawn, just about my height at five feet and four inches, polite to the core wearing a nice smile as I approached her with eagerness, excitement and nervousness. For here was the actor in flesh and blood whom one had seen only on the 70 mm screen of Chanakya theatre of Delhi and never was there a possibility of running into her. The probability of such an encounter for a small-town reporter for a news daily in Jaipur at the time was Zero and maybe even in the negative zone.

But as they say, fate is something that no one, even the Lord, may find it difficult to predict at times as sometimes possibly even His plans may go astray. But for me, that encounter, all of a few seconds, is what I treasure all my life, that I could breathe the same air she was breathing on the lawns of the luxury hotel in Jaipur as she was ambling across towards the parking lot with her son.

Smiling sweetly at me, as if acknowledging my efforts in recognising her and the respect I gave her in wanting to know more about her, why she was here what she was doing etc., ‘The Goldie Hawn’ brushed me and my questions aside. I distinctly remember her words, “I am here on a purely person visit with my son. Allow me to be, and sorry I won’t be able to answer any questions.”

It was then, that the manager of the hotel, with his arms spread wide kind of made a protective arc around her and her son, Boston Russel.

The despairing fan

Her steely firmness in her refusal to speak to a fawning fan, who also happened to be a journalist, did not perturb me one bit. Though the fan in me was heavy-hearted, I did appreciate that she deserved her own space and time. But one was mightily impressed by the humility she showed in that moment and the politeness with which she ejected out of any conversation.

Luckily for me, her son over whom she was naturally doting and was superprotective, was seemingly wanting to spend some time with me and my photographer colleague. She did request us not to photograph and we did oblige, respecting her request for privacy. If only I had her pictures, and with me in the same frame! For the fan in me, it would have been the ultimate trophy to be shared across social media – not then, but surely now when I am reliving the nostalgia, and reminiscing about the chances my work gave me to rub shoulders with the best in the business, in various walks of life.

It would have remained just that private encounter with The Goldie Hawn in my memory but for my excited question to my Boss, the resident editor then, Vipul Mudgal. Guess who I met at Rambagh Palace abhi abhi? And then went on to recall the chance encounter and my super failure in striking up a conversation with her. But the great editor he was, and is, egged me on to write about it. I did not know how I managed to, but eventually, it turned out into a nice piece about the Hollywood star and her emotional side – her motherly instincts at play.

I had my reward when most of my colleagues in the field, especially from the high-profile television Reporter-cum-Anchors blasted me for not alerting them, soon after the next morning my newspaper published the encounter as the lead item on the opening city page of the daily supplement that accompanied the main broadsheet.

I had the good sense to speak with a few other foreigners present at the lawns, who too spotted her at the restaurant and were strolling out with her to the parking lot when yours truly entered the frame.

Helpful manager & biryani

The manager of the restaurant was most helpful in reeling out the Menu she chose, and his conversation with her revealed the other side of the superstar that she was. Yes, I came to know that she devoured biryani and that she came specifically to the restaurant following a recommendation from a fellow Hollywood star. She was staying at a different hotel but had come to the Rambagh Palace Hotel restaurant just for a meal, which the manager said she liked. More than her, apparently her son enjoyed it, according to that friendly and helpful manager.

Incidents like these, kind of compensate, in terms of general feel goodness that envelopes a person – the poor pay, the long hours and the overall stress and strain associated with the daily drudgery of sheer hard work involved in the routine life of a reporter of a newspaper.

Would I do the same thing now? – joining the media world, despite the knowledge about the demanding profession journalism is – most likely I will do the same, again.

(The views and the narrative of the events are the author’s and The NewsPorter bears no responsibility for its accuracy/Main picture on top of Goldie Hawn courtesy Wikipedia))