AND THE BAND PLAYED ON

He Gudda I knew briefly and well, three whole decades ago, was warm, affectionate, guileless, generous. And a friend. A special one.

- Sunil Mehra

We were both making new beginnings: he was fey, radiant, innocent even, freshly catapulted from exports to fashion, at the cusp of celebrityhood. Publishing was exploding in newly liberal India. Flash and cash was the order of the day. Glossies needed t'n a (tit and ass, pardon my French!) to tart up front pages and produce tantalising Page Three spreads. Gudda, young, smart, personable, winsome, immensely talented, charismatic, with his gift of the gab, pungent one-liners, English honours pedigree made the perfect Feel Good Era press/party mascot! Press headlines, flashbulbs, fame followed. Some of it was beginning to go to his head along with generous sloshes of good wine. Yours truly was quietly transitioning from academics to journalism. The timing was right: print/the electronic media scene was pulsating, vibrant like never before!

We lost touch even as we followed each other's trajectories. Led parallel lives really: the press and the Flavours of the Week have an umbilical connect! He blazed across the fashion firmament; burned bright, before the proverbial darkness of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll descended upon him. Journalism, television, my own relationship, claimed me.