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Health & Fitness

Aquanuts pay tribute to Michael Jackson

I grew up with Michael Jackson-- or at least realized that at MJ Splash event performed by Walnut Creek Aquanuts.

Watching the Walnut Creek Aquanuts perform a tribute to my idol Michael Jackson was the first time I saw synchronized swimming live. MJ Splash took place in the Clarke Memorial Swim Center in September.

It was the annual show of the team that was decorated with medals and coming back after national and international championships. Hundreds of members of the USA 11-12, 13-15, Junior and Senior National Teams were participating. Not to forget was the youngest Peanut group of six to eight year olds.

The two hour show began at 7:30 p.m. People sat in the stands with beer and wine in their hands. I was already intoxicated with the cocktail of youth and memories. In that state, I cheered for everyone there. Three moms in the crowd asked me if my child was on the Aquanauts team.

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Yes, we are ‘nuts’ I said, hugging my toddler. It was a public event with a ticket purchase and perhaps also my ticket to the past when I was 12.  I lived in a modest house in New Delhi in the late 1980s. My knee length hair braided lovingly by my grandma, I sat glued to the MTV to watch the Thriller video. Before MTV, we watched government made and sponsored TV programs on traditional music and agriculture. At the threshold of the liberal era stood MJ or at least it was like that for me. I had heard ABBA, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley on the tapes.

Suddenly we got splashed! So began the show. You couldn’t even tell there were almost 30 girls in the dark water swimming toward you. Their chins lined up with water perfectly. They held candles, wore heels, danced and dived, stayed under water, kicked their legs, swayed their hands, and popped up like happy sea otters every single time on the beat—all at the same time. It was breathtaking. Their faces wore big smiles.

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In contrast, I couldn’t stop thinking of my sullen face after the 1990 swim lesson era that happened when my dad took me to the National Stadium in Delhi at 5 a.m.    

I liked swimming but not diving and thus made it evident by not diving at all.  

So, I happily sat and watched awe-inspiring divers here, performing to hit numbers such as Black or White, Man in the Mirror, Scream and Bad. At the same time, memories swam in my head about MJ’s “Heal the world” and my exam. It was 1996 and I was 20. 

I was selected in undergrad program in English literature after I passed the essay test where I quoted “Heal the world, make it a better place.”

A better place for me then was the library in Connaught Place, the heart of Delhi where I fell in love with Western classics. And where on the way I felt salty monsoon breeze on my face in the autorickshaw that passed movie theaters, eateries, state emporiums, cottage industry, designer boutiques as well as offices. It was the strange grown up world where you no more needed your mom or dad.

It was time for the Thriller number. Ghoulish black and bloody makeup was fantastic. The show ended with a standing ovation. What a future they have, I thought and what a past they took me into.

When was the last time somebody or something unexpectedly took you there?

 

 

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