Birthday Special: EK BADE DILWAALE KO KOI BHALA KARNE SE ROKH NAHI SAKTA - Ali Peter John

Being Loved…. (The Story Of A Man Called Salman Who Believes In Giving From What He Has Received) - Ali Peter John

The world may call him a brat even though he is fifty-five, he may be another man for controversies, he may have been charged with assaulting people at parties and other places of importance, he may be charged with a series road accident case in which people died and were injured, he may still have a case of poaching against him, he may be involved in any number of love affairs, he may be referred to as a ‘junglee’,a man who had no respect for the law and he may be known for his taking up for his best friends even at the risk of getting a bad name…

But the basic truth about Salman Khan is that he is one of the most lovable human being in the industry.

He is a very good example of doing good and receiving good in return and for loving, losing and still be loved like very few men are…

Salman or Sallu as he is known in his family and close friend circles is remembered by his principles (priests) and teachers at St.Stanislaus High School in Bandra close to his house in Galaxy Apartments.

They all remember him as a little spoilt boy who was always good to everyone he came across.

They remember him as a student who was not very interested in studies, but ‘managed to scrape through’ but always receive the remark ‘good’ when it came to his conduct in schools.

They also remember the little brawls and scuffles he got into and how he got out of them.

And the best thing Mrs Braganza, an old teacher remembers is that he never use his status as a star-child for any reasons and was as normal as any of the other boys in the school which was only for boys.

The locals of Bandra also remember him more as a good boy than as the son of a star-writer like Salim Khan.

It was the beginning of a life in which love would always play an important part, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad.

Salman was really not interested in being an actor and was more interested in directing films and there were many established directors who were willing to take on the son of Salim Khan just because he was the son of a celebrity writer, but the young Sallu did not want to be a burden or a hanger on on the sets of the films in which he didn’t have his heart…

He could have fulfilled his dreams of being an actor by asking his father to get any good director to give him a break as an actor, but he preferred to get things done all on his own and it is this attitude that put him in touch with J.K Bihari who was starting out as a director with “Biwi Ho Toh Aise” with Rekha in the stellar role.

He was thin and lean and had that hungry look in his eyes and could not make an impact with the film which in itself couldn’t make any impact….

Any other young actor would have been despair or been disillusioned, but Sallu carried on living the way he always loved living, ‘bindass’, but he was not going to be allowed to live this kind of a life for long because he had bigger things lined up for him…

He took his first break as an independent hero in “Maine Pyar Kiya” seriously and the result is now a part of history.

“Maine Pyar Kiya” is one of the all-time big hits of Indian cinema and Salman Khan was the most loved star who would be loved for a long time to come…

It was life like any other star for Salman as he had to face all kinds of ups and downs, storms and upheavals, but his lovable attitude towards individuals, incidents and even accidents was one of taking things in their stride and then moving on….

Sallu took very little time to be one of the most loved stars than being the highest paid stars or the stars who could rock the box-office which he did in the time to come.

He had learnt or been inspired to be what he became because of the atmosphere in his family with his enlightened father, Salim Khan as the head and his ever so loving mother, Salma who literally loved Salman like no other mother easily could, his brothers, Arbaaz and Sohail and his sisters Alvira and Arpita who was the adopted daughter of Salim and Salma Khan.

And if all this love was not enough, Salim Khan offered his family the gift in the form of Helen, the legendary dancer who was treated like a part of the family and was a mother even though she was called aunty by the children.

Salim Khan had such a strong influence on the family that he could make Salma and Helen live like best friends in the same house, which must have left very deep impact on the sensitive mind of Salman and it showed when he didn’t and had still not moved into his new house, but prefers to live in his home where he spent the best years of his life, Galaxy Apartments.

In less than ten years, Salman had become one of the richest stars not only in India but also in countries abroad.

It was at this stage that he seriously thought about using his money for the education of the downtrodden and underprivileged and all their other needs which would give them a better life.

And that is how, in consultation with his father he started a NGO called ‘Being Human’.

‘Being Human’ performs many charitable activities. It funds the education of 200 children at the Akshara High School in Mumbai and another 300 through Aseema, a Mumbai-based non-profit.

The foundation supports the VEER Initiative, a program to train differently-abled people.

As of December 2015, the program has trained 1909 individuals, 1194 of whom have gained employment.

The organisation has set up programs to improve basic skills for students and career development centers.

‘Being Human’ has provided funding to treat children with congenital heart defects and craniofacial deformities.

It has provided drought relief in Maharashtra and blankets for flood victims in Kashmir, conducted free eye camps to provide cataract surgeries, and helped conduct bone-marrow donor registration camps in Mumbai.

In 2018, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai threatened to blacklist the foundation for failing to set up dialysis machines in Bandra.

The project was a public-private partnership where the municipal government would provide the space while the foundation was to maintain and staff the low-cost dialysis facility.

The foundation’s representative denied that the organisation signed any formal contract with the civic body.

The charity accepts direct donations, but it is primarily funded by 8 to 10% share of the sales of Being Human-branded clothing, manufactured and marketed by Mandhana Industries, as a licensing fee for the use of charity’s name as brand.

The charity’s share in 2016 was approximately INR 3 crore from the sales revenue of nearly INR 30 crore.

A quarter of the brand’s revenue comes from overseas sales and a tenth of the revenue comes from online sales.

On June 23, 2017, PVR Cinemas announced a partnership with the foundation, allowing its customers to donate two rupees whenever purchasing a movie ticket.

The fact that Salman is over of the most loved human beings could be seen even when multitudes of people raised up their hands and voices in prayers without considering whether what Salman had done in the case of the accident and in the shooting of Chinkaras in the forests of Jodhpur.

They stood outside his house like one man to show their love and solidarity with Salman and even his family.

They are so much in love with the image of the savior in Salman that many of them offer special prayers for him whenever he has a film coming up for release and stand in long queues to watch his film at the first day first show and then see the film again and again all because of their Salman Khan.

There are many hotels in Mumbai and other places which are named after him and even have dishes in his name.

If there is the biggest benefactor for the extremely poor and the hungry and genuine beggars, it is Salman Khan and when he gives, he gives with his whole heart of which I have met hundreds of beneficiaries.

Salman has also been a loved one among some of the most popular actresses and the list is very long, the only ones who come to mind easily are Sangeeta Bijlani,Somy Ali, Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Sneha Ullal and now Lulia Vantur.

The entire country seems to be worried about why Salman is not getting married and to their worry he has only one answer.

He says he has too many problems and dragon chasing him all the time, sometimes the fear of being sent to jail and sometimes an unknown ailment he doesn’t want to talk about at this stage of his life.

He is only fifty-five which may be a long time for any other man, but with the abundance love he has in him and which he lives to share, he is sure to be loved till the end of time and who knows he may even be conferred with a new title called “Mr Love”!