The advice I whispered to Jograd

By Herbert Vego

WHILE listening to my car radio yesterday, I heard the deejay announcing he would play the song “Kawatan” as sung by the late Jograd dela Torre. I shed tears while listening and going down memory lane.

In 1979 when I was in the business of hiring singers and dancers for religious fiestas in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, I had the good fortune of managing the career of singer-dancer Jograd, who had just won the title “John Travolta of the Philippines” on the TV show “Student Canteen”.

Decades have passed since then but I have not forgotten that evening when I brought my troop to Sta. Cruz, Marinduque to perform at the town plaza. It was a successful show. I guessed that was why, after that impressive dance number of Jograd a la Travolta, the mayor’s wife escorted us to an air-conditioned room with a ref loaded with beer and pulutan.

At about 2:00 a.m. when we were already asleep, a housemaid knocked on our door, begging us to transfer to a smaller room because a VIP had unexpectedly come; we had to give up the bigger room to this VIP, a famous couturier with the initial “AA”.

Jograd protested. I was mad too, but I had to calm him down because we had not yet collected our fees.

“Don’t get mad until you make it to the top,” I advised him. “By then, they will offer you the best room.”

That advice he took seriously.

I’ve gone into so many other business journeys since then that I feel I am now in the position to advise newcomers.

If you start a business, you can’t avoid directly dealing with clients, employees, suppliers, customers and regulatory agencies, among others.

If you work for a client, you have no choice but to interact with him and the men and women under him.

The same holds true in every area of life. Whether we play sports, marry or travel to strange places with different culture, we can’t avoid adjusting with people. They are an integral part of everything we do.

Old age has taught me how to come to terms with the realities of human nature. No one is perfect, not even Perfecto. If we can’t rise above mediocrity, why blame others?

It’s a truism, however, that any Juan with talent, persistence and determination has what it takes to be as recognized as a famous fashion designer.

Going back to Jograd, the night we were asked to transfer to a smaller room was the night he vowed to carve a niche in show business. He would not experience the same humiliation again.

Most people are impressed by money and power — including those who claim otherwise. A moneyed employer often feels superior to his learned employee. The corollary to this trait is that when people think you’re broke and powerless, they treat you with indifference.

It is important to accept the reality that human nature is what it is, and when we try to delude ourselves about it, we tend to sink into depression.

Going back to Jograd, by the time he died a few months ago due to liver and kidney diseases at age 65, he had gone a long way, having starred in such movies as Okleng Tokleng, Bala at Lipistik, Cook Cubao Kid and Pulis Patola; and having popularized novelty songs like Kawatan, Uhaw and Habang Ako’y Nabubuhay.

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