It will be amazing, Priyankaa Vir told me. You shouldn’t miss it, said Vaishali Bisht. Even my friends at the Park were of the opinion that I should make the effort to drive all the way to Shilpakala Vedika on Sunday evening for this brilliant Kathak and Flamenco performance by Akram Khan and Israel Galván.

But it is now Monday Morning. And I am waking up to the fact that I may be asked why I did not do as suggested. And missed the 3rd Day of the Park’s New Festival 2015.

And you know me, I like to be prepared for the questions. So I’ve been doing some thinking.

What struck me almost immediately is that I am a victim of the ‘I want to see myself’ syndrome. If I am going for a movie I want to see myself as the hero (okay, sometimes the villain or the comedian). If I am going for a play, I come out thinking that one particular role was what ‘I’ had played.

If I read a book, I become one of its characters.

You get the drift? It is called ‘empathy’. Stepping into someone else’s shoes.

Now while it is easy for me to see myself speaking in a Bachchan like Baritone in a movie with my childhood sweetheart Zeenat Aman, or even think that I am singing a Kishore Kumar or Neil Diamond song to Shruti Hassan (my current flavour), or imagine myself sharing stage space with my heart throb, Supriya Pathak…even I draw the line when it comes to these extremely talented, extremely fit, extremely nimble and agile dancers.

You see, my feeble mind revolts at the sheer imagery of me dancing, pirouetting and setting the floor on fire. So unless I know that the dancers are going to be pretty young ladies (who I don’t want to empathise with) I normally stay away from these male dancer events.

I do make exceptions. For my friend Haleem Khan. And for performances and dance extravaganzas like Vishwa Vinayaka. But that’s it.

Plus the loos at Shilpakala Vedika are too far from the seats for my comfort. And it is an uphill climb that I like to avoid. Sure, I mostly use the VIP entrance and come in through the Green Rooms, since most of the times I am there, I have an on stage role. But otherwise…hey, I shudder to think of all the walks I would have to take for necessary relief.

Plus of course the fact that we ran out of Gas in the kitchen yesterday and I had to make arrangements for dinner.

And not to forget, I have two presentations today, for which I had to work overtime yesterday…that kept me away.

Okay. I think I’ve got enough excuses up my sleeve.

Thank God. I’ll not have to tell anyone that I was simply exhausted. And I just couldn’t drag myself all the way there.

But I am sure I missed something magical.

Aah well. Inshallah there will be a next time.