Anthony Bourdain - The Rocker and The Shocker

Anthony Bourdain

I was thinking to write about my most admired chef Anthony Bourdain. the gonzo chronicler of food and culture in far-off places,  in my series of articles labelled as 'Global Citizen'.  But then came the devastating news of death of the master story teller on June 8, 2018 which shocked the world. I had dropped the idea to write about him  but two weeks later I really cannot resist myself. To be fare I never met him in person but his shows are so powerful that makes my grief more personal.

Parts Unknown

He had been working on an episode for the 12th season of his CNN shows 'Parts Unknown'. Which literally has opened up his unknown parts when he was found unresponsive and dead, at age 61, by his good friend and chef  Eric Ripert in eastern France.
He argued, traveling the globe meant visiting areas of conflict and also intense poverty and he didn't shy away from either. In 'No Reservations' in the Travel Channel, he went to Haiti after devastating earth quake in 2011 and reflected on his ambivalence at being there.

I'm there talking about local cuisine and that means I'm shoveling food into my face ... that a lot of those people can't afford.

He described how his well-meaning efforts to feed locals around him led to chaos and

hungry kids being beaten with stick

There was, of course, a more lighthearted side to his travels including some wild and bizarre eating experience. In Morocco, it was that roasted sheep's testicles. In Canada, it was a raw seal's eyeball. In Namibia, it was the wrong end of a warthog ( he wound up with a parasite). In Vietnam it was the still-beating heart of a cobra that had just been sliced open. The Dawn has summed up Anthony Bourdain's eating experience.

Anthony Bourdain 

 
Bourdain although undoubtedly was at pick of his carrier at his 50s but he didn't break through until he was in mid-40s. He experienced years of both struggle and success in varied ratio.
In a chilling 2016 interview to Todd Aaron Jensen of Biography.com, he told,

I should have died in my 20s. I became successful in my 40s. I became a dad in my 50s.

In his early days he dropped out of college to pursue his carrier with Culinary Institute of America in New York. To earn some money he put 12 hours shift, six days a week schedule.


Another heart filled confession of Bourdain

I feel like I've stolen a car - a really nice car - and I keep looking in the rear-view mirror for flashing lights. But there has been nothing yet.

Bourdain told WealthSimple,

I didn't put anything aside, ever. Money came in, money went out. I was always a pay-check behind, at least. I usually owed my chef, my paycheck; again, cocaine.

Until I was 44, I never even had a savings account.

Then that year everything had changed. He wrote an article for the New Yorker Don't Eat Before Reading This was in line of his massively popular Book Kitchen Confidential.



He told to Jensen

Oh, man, at the age of 44, I was standing in kitchens, not knowing what it was like to go to sleep. without being in mortal terror. I was in horrible, endless, irrevocable debt.

I had no health insurance. I didn't pay taxes. I couldn't pay my rent.

He added

It was nightmare, but it's all been different for about in last 15 years. If it looks like my life is comfortable, well, that's a very new thing for me

In last 17 years he told lot of things to us while presenting his shows or to different other persons

But what actually went wrong behind the glamour

It is very clear that we probably never know what are the causes that transpire him to take his last decision. 
Many of us wondered publicly, how could people with unimaginable success, good looks, admiration and incredible wealth feel unhappy enough to end their lives. But silently, a lot of us already understood, because we've experienced the darkness too.

No one is immune to despair and millions of people in the world are currently experiencing severe anxiety and depression, too often with thoughts that the world will be better off without them. Unfortunately due to the stigma surrounding mental illness, a lot of them hide their pain and feel ashamed. We can speak freely of cancer diagnosis ant its treatment but it remains taboo to discuss someone's psychological well-being, therapy or medications publicly. Because of this, it is important to remember that there is no shame in mental illness. The only shame is that we can't be more open. honest and compassionate about it.

The shame of suffering from anxiety and depression is only one of the numerous, complex factors that contribute to the epidemic of suicide in our society today.
Celebrities face more difficulty to express their anxiety to anybody.

Oprah Winfrey

That is why probably Oprahfication becomes so popular, which is attributed

public confession as a form of therapy

When we do something wrong or something wrong had happened to us, make a significant impact in our subconscious space. In these scenarios we may choose to hide or make a confession which draws the destiny of our mental conditions.
  
Let us try to relate June 8, 2018 incident of Bourdain's life and his interview with The New Yorker magazine, where he told

I have the best job in the world

If I'm unhappy it's a failure of imagination

A clear contrast of thought and action which stunned the fans of the globe-trotting food-tester and culinary storyteller.  
          

Parts Unknown Finale and Death Ritual

Darren Aronofsky and Anthony Bourdain had been friends since 2014, their last trip together to Bhutan in December 2017 for the season finale of Parts Unknown was a pivotal moment in their friendship.
Darren wrote a touching tribute A road trip through Bhutan with Anthony Bourden for CNN, where he wrote

Bhutan was where I really got to know Tomy

He also told

It seems ironic now that on our last day of shooting we performed a Bhutanese death ritual. We debated the fate of the country, the fate of the world. He was perplexed as to how mankind's endless hunger to consume could be curtailed.

that they concluded their visit to the Himalayan country Bhutan by filming a Bhutanese death ritual.  

Bourdain touched on mortality throughout the episode He says in a voice over

It is considered enlightening and therapeutic to think about death for a few minutes of the day. Life is but a dream.

Final Thought

Apart from his many piercing insights into the world of restaurants. Bourdain will be remembered for his enthusiasm for other culture and cuisines. With his wry smile and his world-weary demeanor Bourdain was prepared to try anything once.    

He had left lot of his followers who wanted and want to be like him. On June 25, 2018, Cia Bernales of FastCompany wrote in her article   Here's how Anthony Bourdain changed my life.

Cia Bernales

I started obsessively writing about food and travel because I so wanted to be like Bourdain. Because of him, I wanted to learn and experience other people's cultures and traditions through the food they eat

Cia could not make her a part of the show No Reservation around Philippines , her own country . But no matter her friends texted her it should have been she and she thought it was herself.

I choose her quote to conclude

But even though I never really got the chance to work with Bourdain, I wanted to be the one who tries to eat everything too. Because he taught me that it's a privilege to be given the chance to eat everything; an honor to be invited into peoples' homes and fed;  an advantage to be able to share tastes  with strangers . Everywhere I've traveled so far, I have walked. hiked, run and biked to eat because of him.

According to Bourdain, his job at a Greek restaurant helped build character, as well as the patterns that he has relied  on since ;

I learned to love work and find meaning in it. To this day, I like going to work, clocking in and clocking out , the satisfaction of job well done.

   
Anthony Bourdain always adventured to try anything once. He probably tried on June 8 to experience his life once and succeeded.

An Update on July 13, 2018
At last I have found something to relate a cause to his death. But certainly I am not certain, may be it is one of many unknown possibilities. Please read
An open letter to anyone who loves Anthony Bourdain and what he stood for