Week 1513 - The Dorothy Effect - A Father-Daughter Safety Bubble

The Concept Explained

Counting Down to 90 - Week 1579

Why 1579

Bhavin's WritingsBhavin Jankharia

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I spent the weekend at Lollapalooza with my daughter. The main act on Saturday was Yungblud, who was absolutely amazing and then on Sunday, there were Callum Scott (good), Lany (good), Kehlani (bleh!) and then Linkin Park (average). I must have been one of the few 60 plus old individuals there and it often showed, especially when I screamed, singing along with some of the songs.

We were sitting on one of the lounge tables before Yungblud was to start, when a young boy came and sat opposite us. After 5 minutes, he asked if we knew how to get to the Yungblud pit and then we got talking. He was 22-23 years old from Hyderabad. He has a brother in Mumbai but this was his first concert ever and since his birthday was in a couple of days, had treated himself to a Platinum lounge pass and come alone to attend Lolla. I found that extremely courageous…I am not sure at that age whether I would have attended a rock concert alone. He asked to tag along and we were together in the Yungblud pit and then we dropped him on the way back at Mahalaxmi station. 

In the pit, a 50-years old lady came over to us and asked if she could hang around with us. Both of us shrugged and she started dancing next to us and we got talking. She was alone because her husband had to leave the concert suddenly for some emergency and she thought it was cute that my 25-years old daughter was accompanying her 61 years old father to a rock concert…she said it reminded her of her father who is now in his 80s and how he would have loved to be at this concert. I think she meant this as a compliment, but I wonder…she aged me by 20  years while I was headbanging!!

On Sunday, after Callum Scott, we were again at the lounge, waiting for Lany and Kehlani when another 35-years old guy plonked himself next to us. He was a Pandit from Srinagar for whom listening to Linkin Park alive was like meeting a version of God and he was ecstatic to be at Lolla. This was his first ever time in Mumbai and I couldn’t get my head around this. He was staying in a small hotel opposite Gloria Church and he talked about how nice the church was (I have never been in) and then raved about the Sealink and then talked about his Mumbai belly that he developed at night after eating vada-pav as part of his street-food experience, literally on the streets of Byculla. He told us that Bloodywood, which was the next act was also sensational (they just screamed a lot and were too loud) and we kept chatting until it was time for us to leave for Kehlani. 

When we were returning and then discussing all this, my daughter suddenly turned around and said, “this is so much like Dorothy and the yellow brick road”. Dorothy from Wizard of Oz attracted the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion on her journey, random characters who just joined her on her quest and goal.

There was no quest or goal, but I wonder if it was the comfort of seeing a father-daughter pair that made random people (a 22-23 years old, a 35-years old and a 50-years old) put aside their inhibitions and hang out with us. Somehow, this father-daughter combo created a comfort vibe for those who were alone, drawing them in, intuitively providing them some kind of a perceived safety bubble.

It was so much fun to interact with strangers, without knowing their names, except for the Hyderabad boy, but getting to know some bits of their lives in the short time we had.

Lolla is slowly becoming a cultural milestone. Each episode builds on the previous one and I can see it changing every year (this was my 3^rd one). If you listen to pop and rock and if any of the bands or artists you like is playing, you owe it to yourself to attend, if you are physically able to. If you don’t have anyone to go with and feel weird attending alone, reach out to me and we will work something out next year.