I blame all my injuries to my imaginery best friend, Tarzan. Specifically Johnny Weissmuller. The two broken teeth on my upper chops, the stitch scar on my left palm (from climbing a wall full of nails), the burn mark on my right ankle. All because of my Johnny, my only imaginery friend until I was, oh, about 16.There were problems in our friendship, of course. First, the generation gap (He'd be 102 this June). Then, the language gap (I'm sure he didn't speak Bangla). But through all these years, we've managed to remain the closest of friends.
My first movie was Tarzan's New York Adventure (1943). In summer of 1998, I walked across Brooklyn Bridge on a weekday afternoon by myself. I paused in the middle of the bridge, wondered what it would be like to jump out of it, reminded myself that I'm not an olympic diver, and kept walking.
Walk on, Johhny.
