Mumbai calling Vir Das

“This picture ofme in rugged jeans, an umbrella and a cigarette in one hand, marks the turn ofevents in my life, especially my career. Clicked in 2005, it reminds me of how Ihad flown to India from the UK only for a short vacation and never lookedback,” Vir recalls.A 25-year-old student at the time, Vir hadplanned to return to the UK, get a Masters degree in fine arts and teachtheatre. “I had come down to Delhi to visit my parents for avacation.Pradeep Guha who was then with Times of India, called me to Mumbai to perform at a stand-up comedy night. It was a great opportunity for me, especially as I was planning to take up teaching theatre as my profession. The next evening, I had a flight back to Delhi.”That one stand-upshow however, had people stop and take notice of his talent for the firsttime.“After the show, the owner of the channel walked up andtold me to do a comedy show for their channel. They told me that I have to moveto Mumbai within ten days. I was stunned! I had other plans. After the meeting,I sat at Marine Drive for almost an hour-and-a-half thinking about the proposaland it actually clicked. A passerby had clicked this picture that day and Icherish it till today.”It’s hard to quibble with fate,when it has bigger plans for you. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunityfor me.I decided to give it a shot and kept my Masters degree as aback-up plan, just in case. Then I started calling up friends and brokers sothat I could find myself a house to live in.In no time, I found a250 sq ft apartment for myself for Rs 9000. I went back to Delhi and saidbye-bye to my life in the UK.”Obviously, it paid off for Virspectacularly. “It was almost a stupid decision but in retrospect this isa ‘Bombay - city of dreams’ photograph for me.”