Funny Incidents while Filming TV Commercials
‘Tattaya’ in Peshawar
By Rafiq Ebrahim Valjee
IL
Late Mr S.M. Akhlaque, Mir Saeed Rizvi and I were sort of a permanent team while making TV commercials. We were shooting another commercial for Honda Motorcycle, this time in Peshawar,on a hot summer day. The shoot went smooth as desired. We packed up for the day and looked forward to a blissful night in a Rest House.
After a delicious dinner, comprising of barbequed partridge, we thought of taking a stroll in the nearby field as the weather had cooled down. The Rest House manager warned us that there were small thin snakes in the field and that we should be wary of them. Nevertheless, we ventured. Fragrance of trees and wild flowers filled the air which greatly soothed us after a hard day’s work in scorching heat.
Just as I was smelling a flower, something bit me on the thigh. The bite was almost unbearable. I recalled the warning of the manager. Yes, it must be a thin snake. In my agony, I just unzipped my pants and pulled it down. Members of our team who had accompanied us began to laugh loudly seeing me without trousers.
It turned out to be a small nocturnal insect called ‘tattaya’ which had bit me and put me to shame.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
