Education is one of the most important things to give to a child. But let’s face it, school was shitty. Probably I’m saying it because I was one of those sincere nerdy kids in school with a limited social life. Oiled hair, shirt nicely tucked inside shorts makes teachers wet excited, not other girls your age (learnt that the hard way). But apart from that, even the education we receive is for the most part, unnecessary. How the fuck is knowing what that casanova Akbar did back then ever going to affect my life? Teachers who can barely spell “Shakespeare” explaining to us “The author finds the night so dark because of the emptiness in his soul left after his wife left him. This shows the depression in his life.” If Shakespeare were here today he’d probably say, “Bhenchod raat kaali nahi hogi toh kya safed likhu? Ek colour kya de diya koi cheez ko tum log thesis likhna chalu kar dete ho. The night was dark due to the absence of the fucking sun! How difficult is it to fucking grasp that? Your students don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”. Active passive voice mein problems hai aur tum log soliloquy mein 1000 layers of hidden meanings nikalte ho. This is ridiculous!” (You had to Google “soliloquy”, didn’t you?). People don’t really manage to make a meaningful career from what they learn at school, besides the script writers of Gangs of Wasseypur; because honestly, if there’s one thing school taught us, besides English, was how to swear. And the GoW guys applied that knowledge perfectly. Besides that, who really gives a shit about the birth date of Qutbuddin Aibak? But I met someone recently who also managed to make a career out of something he learnt in school- English! Why do I say that? Scroll down to find out…
Vishaal Aloysius Rasquinha was recently at the Waves festival as an emcee during the Lost Stories concert. Ironically, he has been coming to my college, D J Sanghvi, since years now but I had to travel all the way to Goa (not that I’m complaining about the Goa trip) to have a word with him. It turned out to be an awesome interview. Read on.
Tell us about yourself.
I’ve been an anchor for two years. I’ve hosted shows with celebrities like Ayushmann Khurana, Mohit Chauhan, Mika, KK, DJ Chetas, Neha Kakkar, Kanika Kapoor, Yses V (resident DJ of Tomorrowland) and have also done a lot of corporate shows for companies like Vodafone, Airtel and other multinationals.
How did you get into anchoring?
It’s a funny story actually. Back in college we had this event with nobody to host it. My teacher told me, and I quote, “Tujhe English achha aata hai, tu ja” (#ChristianBoyProblems). So yeah, I got to host my first event because “Mujhe English achha aata tha”. This happened in FY BMM. By the time I was done with the three years of BMM, I had hosted all the major festivals in Mumbai, including Mood-I.
How was your IPL experience?
I am the official anchor for Rajasthan Royals. It’s great working with them, I’m almost part of the team. It was a tremendous experience. If you ask what my best memory was, it has to be this- I was in Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad one day prior to a match for a sound check. I stood in the middle of the pitch and said “Check!”. It felt amazing to hear my voice booming from all directions. Next day when I did the same in front of a packed stadium, it was a different level of high altogether! I love these kind of live events as compared to speaking in front of a camera.
What are you doing with #fame?
Okay so I’m a brand ambassador for #fame; we’re called fame stars. I run a show on it called The Vishaal Show which features celebrities but is also a lot about myself. I’m kind of a narcissist that way. People all across the country and even in other parts of the world watch and enjoy it. The reason I know this is because people from different countries write to me, appreciating my work. It feels really good when that happens.
If not anchoring, what would you be doing?
I have always wanted to be an air force pilot in particular or any part of the Indian Army in general. Back in college I was actually training for the air force, but I failed the medicals because I had flat feet.
Other than anchoring, what else do you do?
I’ve started singing. I’m working on some covers I’ll be uploading to YouTube. (You can check out his first song by clicking here). I am also going to begin teaching underprivileged kids.
Any advice for upcoming emcees?
It is very important to find your own style, don’t imitate someone else. It’s okay to take inspiration from others; see them but don’t be them. I’ve come up in this profession without anyone in my family being in the entertainment business; you can too. Two people who I look up to are Sana Shaikh and Siddharth Kannan, who also happens to call me India’s best youth anchor.
Well, I wouldn’t debate on the “best youth anchor tag” because Vishaal surely manages to bring life to whatever event he is hosting. He’s got this amazing persona on stage and most of all he has my respect for making a career out of something he learnt in school! Seriously, school needs to start teaching us stuff that really matters. In the meantime, check out what he had to say about me and this blog.
Rohan Parekh
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