Once in a way comes a man who makes such an impact that he leaves an impact on generations to come and impact doesnot seems to stop - ALI PETER JOHN
And one such man was the never to be forgotten Dev Anand .His memories can not be called memory because he live with people who have lived with him and milliions of people who have lived during his time.
I have been extremely privileged to be part of 50 years of his exciting enlightening and entertaining journey....Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand were contemporary and competitors, but they were not jealous rivals who could run down one another to be winners, They were not envious or jealous of one another , they spoke to the media about each other but only when had to say good things about one another ...
Like when Dev Anand died suddenly in London Dilip Kumar made a statement in which he said that he had never seen a more handsome actor than Dev .
He also called Dev a gentle man and well read man who was hungry for knowledge about every subject especially English, History and Cinema.
Dilip spoke about how Dev called him Laale, which showed how close they were it must be known that they played a very important part in bringing together Dilip and Saira after they had a rift over Dilip's affair and reported marriage with Asma.
Another man who was always all praise for Dev's handsome looks was his elder brother Chetan Anand who directed Dev in a few films and once said , "Iss Dev ka mein kya karoon?
Isko mein camera ke koi bhi angle se dekhta hun woh utna hee khoobsurat aur handsome lagne lagta hai "women found Dev handsome even when he was 85.
I saw the proof when i was in a city called Kalyan where Dev was a guest.
The entire city had come out and according to a survey girls had not gone to college that day , housewives had finished their home work early and nuns and teachers had closed down schools to have a glimpse of Dev.I saw this phenomenon in many other cities of India.
Dev liked many of his co- stars used to travel in the most luxurious car and the Impala was his favourite tilll his car met with an accident when his co-star Geeta Bali was traveling with him and she was injured.
He gave up huge cars and travelled only in Fiat car ( car number 6105, 556, and then on request of his son Sunil a black Chevrolet, number 6396, which was to be his last car).
A journalist who was trying act smart once asked him in front of hundreds of people why dont you have a big car Dev? ( he not only loved being called Dev, but requested even his staff to call him Dev).
And Dev looked back at the journalists in his typical way and shouted, "I am Dev, i make the car what it is , the car doesnot make me ) the journalist left the scene.
I was outside Iris Park the bungalow built by Dev in Juhu in the 50s and it pained me to see the silence surrounding the bungalow where there was so much excitement once .
A very old servant came out and told me that Dev's wife , one time actress Kalpana kartik was 90 years old now and had difficulties in walking but she had gone for both her jabs and conducting her Christian catechism classes at the bunglow every Sunday.
A million memories of Dev crossed my mind as i stood outside the gate had one last look at the bungalow where i had spent several great moments, mornings, afternoons and evenings with a man who lives in me and refuses to leave me for which i will be grateful to him till the end of my life and tilll as many lives i have .