Birthday Special: AAPDAA KO AVSAR MEIN BADALNAA AROONA JI KO BACHPAN SE AADAT THI... BY ALI PETER JOHN

If there is one of the very few women I feel thoroughly blessed to know next to God and many of his precious creations, it is my own “Aroona behn”, the woman the world which is busy with itself knows as Aroona Irani, the actress who has not made it as big as a star but is a greater star than many stars I know, a woman with a heart that cares, a woman with courage, a woman with a conscience, a woman who has given to life more than what life has given to her, a woman more than any other woman I know in the world of films or this whole world of which I have seen and known so much - BY Ali Peter John

I know “Aroona behn” as a woman who has brought love where there was hate and indifference, a woman who has brought light where darkness ruled, a woman who has fought all the fires of life, a woman who has walked in the scorching sun, a woman who has walked through paths paved with thorns all the way, but has kept on walking.

I know “Aroona behn” who has been rattled by the forces of evil, her mind scarred and her psyche battered, I have known her as a woman who has forgotten and forgiven all those who have hurt her, humiliated her, betrayed her, all those who have rejected her, all those have tried to destroy her goodness to meet their own selfish ends, to fulfill their own ambitions, who have made her unhappy so that they can be happy.

I have known “Aroona behn” as a woman who has fought hundreds of wars, a woman who has fought against the enemies of defeat, despair, disenchantment and disintegration, who has fought them all and can still create fear in any one who tries to harm her in the path she has chosen for herself.

She is a woman who firmly believes in singing, “zindagi har kadam ek nayi jung hai, jeet jayenge hum, jeetege hum”

I have known “Aroona behn” who has known the truth about life, who has seen relationships flounder and break on the rock of time, of feelings changing colours, of blood curdling and turning into a liquid that is poisonous for human beings, she is one woman who has seen, experienced and lived with all this and much more during the last sixty-five years.

I have seen “Aroona behn” as a power who can take on any challenges and face them without batting an eyelid and without letting her tears roll down.

I have heard all her stories from the time she was nine to the time now when she has lived so many lives in one life and her stories have only made me admire her, to respect her, more than all those holy women sitting in their sacred places and counting their beads and mouthing all their empty mantras and hollow prayers which I am sure no God listens to.

She was a victim of circumstances who could hardly know what the joys of childhood was, what the excitement of being a little girl was, because she had to make a living for her whole family which was entirely dependent on her.

She started life in what was known as Parsi Theatre when she was just nine and worked almost round the clock all because as she says it was a “rozi roti ka sawaal” for her parents, her sisters, her brothers and so many others who looked up to her.

She was a talented actress and some of the best roles came to her and she made the best of them, not to prove anything to anyone but because of her being wanted for better roles only meant a better life for her family .

“Aroona behn’s” life changed for the better when life offered her a better chance and she found her way into Hindi films where she kept standing in a crowd, dancing in a group and just being around because it meant more money than what she earned in theatre.

Time kept changing. She was busy playing the vamp or the gangster’s moll and the comedian’s sidekick.

Her destiny began playing games with her till she was selected to be the leading lady of an unknown actor called Amitabh Bachchan because no other actress small or big wanted to be the heroine of a “tall, ugly and entirely non-hero like man who had a name which was as unusual as his personality”.

That man went on to be the greatest ever hero, the one and only Amitabh Bachchan while “Aroona behn” stood in the side lines and applauded him like all the millions of other people.

She continued playing the sister, the mother and whatever other role came her way. A time came when she was one of the top most heroines of Gujarati films, but that too was a brief season of happiness.

She came back to Mumbai and reached a stage when she had no work but made a striking comeback as the cruel mother-in-law in “Beta”.

She was in demand again. She then finally found what she was looking for all her life, she found love even though she had to break rules and laws and even some brittle hearts, she couldn’t help it because love couldn’t help it.

“Aroona behn” went on to produce a Hindi film and then went into producing some big T.V. serials and is now tired of the way work is done or has got to be done. She is happy with whatever comes her way.

She has no complaints, no reasons to regret or to look back in anger. She only looks forward to live life the way she had dreamt of once and when I last talked to her she said, “ Arre, Ali bhai, zindagi mein aur kya chahiye, itne saare din dekhe, itne saare log dekhe, itna khel khela aur khilona bhi ban gaye, ab bas thoda sa pyaar chaahiye, thodi si shanti chaahiye”.

That evening I decided if I live as long as she has lived or even for just some time more I will certainly write a book about this maha and mahaan woman, if anyone asks me about any of my dreams for the future and even if I have to make my last wish known it will be this dream of writing the truth and nothing but the truth about one of my most favourite women, “Aroona behn”.

More Photos:

Rishi Kapoor & Aruna Irani shown to user