The Grand Hyatt knows what I did last summer

Woke up at 4:30 am today because I had to report at the Grand Hyatt for a major company event at 6 am! Which is why I had to quickly wrap up last night's celebration of Sinnerman getting his US visa. And how could the night be complete without more jabs on my hand by Soldier? Bas bahut ho gaya, need to put kala teeka on my hand already.

So I was at the Grand Hyatt at that unearthly hour, helping to set up stuff for the event. Dressed in black formals, hair neatly disciplined in place, I played the part of the serious, responsible editor. MC'ed the talks by various authors, entertained queries from teachers and proudly discussed the best-selling book I co-wrote, that has sold more than 22000 copies. And there I was -- so corporate, so formal.

And then it struck me.

If the Grand Hyatt was a human, it would have spoken to me.

It would have said, "Errr... you look familiar. Aren't you the same girl who...?" And I would have turned red and slunk away as fast as my formal black shoes would have carried me.

Flashback May 2004

Ok fine, I admit I was there! Along with thousands of other screaming fans. Ok, maybe I didn't scream so much. But I did camp outside the Grand Hyatt for three days, to meet the Bollywood stars who had come down to Singapore for the IIFA awards last year.

If my day started at the Grand Hyatt today at 6 am, my day would end at 6 am then, as I refused to budge from the hotel entrance till all the stars had returned after their heavy partying sessions. It was quite a crazy thing to do. And yes, I'll probably never do it again if given the chance.

But when I made a list of all those I managed to meet/see, it was all worth it. I had seen almost all of Bollywood. And because the crowd was not only made up of Indians, but Chinese and Malays as well, many stars were not recognised. It gave me such a high when people in the crowd started coming to me to ask who it was when they couldn't recognise some of the stars. I guess they knew I knew my stuff 'cos I was pretty much the first to call out their names when they appeared.

Here's the list I use to live the moments again:

Shah Rukh Khan - He was at the next table from me, having lunch with Karan Johar and Jaya Bachchan. I still remember his steely eyes as he said to me, "I'll give you three seconds to take my photo. Three seconds. Okay?"

Karan Johar - Saw him twice -- once when he stepped out of the car and waved, and once as mentioned above. How I love his work. You go, guy!

Jaya Bachchan - As mentioned above. Boy, she's the most elegant lady Bollywood has ever produced.

Hrithik Roshan - Great looks. Great attitude. And oh, did I mention great looks?

Amitabh Bachchan - I don't like him too much but you gotta admit the man has a presence you can't ignore.

Abhishek Bachchan - Very very likeable.

Dino Morea - I literally bumped into him on the street. He's so tall that my head actually rammed into his chest. When I looked up, I was speechless! Was it really Dino? He apologised for not having the time to pose for a picture. Then he walked off, turned back and silently mouthed 'I'm sorry' again. Incredibly sweet of him to do that.

Preity Zinta - Was shopping in disguise, and suddenly ran into the hotel lobby, shocking even the security guards. I only recognised her when she took her cap off.

Nikhil Advani - Spotted him shopping for CDs at HMV. Stalked him for almost half an hour 'cos I wanted his autograph but could not remember his name. When I gave up and started walking back, I remembered the name. Could not trace him back though.

Anil Kapoor - Ok is he ever going to grow old or what??

Fardeen Khan - Hopped his way back into the hotel on crutches after the charity football match.

Saif Ali Khan - Hopped his way back into the hotel on crutches after the charity football match.

Sanjay Dutt - Smoked and smoked outside the lobby for at least half an hour.

Boman Irani - Spoke to us for a while. He actually had time to ask me which I found funnier -- Main Hoon Na or Munnabhai.

Javed Akhtar & Shabana Azmi - I requested them to come forward and pose for me. They did!

Ritesh Deshmukh - Was standing there looking rather sad 'cos no one recognised him. Except me of course. When I screamed "Ritesh!" his face lighted up. And everyone else started asking, "Who's Ritesh? Which movie is he in?"

Brett Lee - Apparently, he's a great Bollywood fan!

Amrish Puri - He is SO Mogambo!

Esha Deol - Not pretty. Coupled with loads of bad attitude.

Kareena - Great figure. Bad attitude.

Bobby Deol - Cute. Gentlemanly. Quiet.

Vivek Oberoi - Friendly. Not so good-looking though.

Feroz Khan - Bald. Tall. Majestic. 50-year-old women were screaming "We still find you sexy!"

Madhavan - His fingertip touched mine before the moronic security guard pushed the crowd away!

Arshad Warsi - Came back to hotel at 4 am. Drunk. Did a little dance for us when he saw us waiting at that hour.

Simi Garewal - Pure. White. Elegant. Beautiful.

Zayed Khan - Tall. And so much better looking in real life than on screen.

Prem Chopra - Was lunching at the Scotts Road food court with two henchmen when I asked him if I could have a photo with him. He happily obliged.

Also featured - Sharad Kapoor, Shoma Anand, Kiran Juneja, Satish Kaushik, Yash Johar, Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Yash Tonk, Shammi Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Rakesh Roshan and Suresh Oberoi

1. Screaming fan outside the Grand Hyatt
2. Serious-faced editor and author inside the Grand Hyatt

Yupp, that's me. Both of 'em.

But one thing was common in the two personas.

In both instances, people came to ask me questions about stuff I knew like the back of my hand.