Birthday: Anand Bakshi had filled my life with a lot of joy

I don't know if my life would have been the same if I was a part of any other industry. I will always be grateful to this industry which has given me so much. I know there are many people who enjoy running this amazing industry, I let them share their ways and ideas, but I will always remember this industry fondly because it has given me more love than I ever expected! 

Anand Bakshi Songs

I have been very fortunate to have been loved by great men and women like V. Shantaram, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, K.A. Abbas, and the list goes on till the last man whose love I had experienced and that is Shahrukh Khan. But, if there is one person who loved me without any expectations, it was Anand Bakshi, the poet of life and love, the successful lyricist! Like all those who I have had a very close association with, I still don't remember how and where I met Bakshi sahab for the first time. However I do remember that I took a long walk with him along the seafront on Khar Danda Road. It was this road that inspired him to write some of his best songs! He once told me that, he could conceive of at least two songs while walking from his house on Perry Road to Danda and back.

He wore half trousers and a t-shirt with very good shoes so that he could walk better and he was mostly lost in his own world and would overtake me, which made me follow him and often wonder if this was the same Anand Bakshi whose name I had heard more than half a century ago in my life. But I still never got an answer because he was nothing like the normal Hindi and Urdu poets. He never spoke in the high flowing style of poets and shayari. He never ate paan and the only bad habit he had was smoking a lot and drinking alcohol at night, where he would sometimes drink too much. He told me that he was a normal person who reacted to situations and people and how he behaved in different situations. 

It was his first birthday party at his apartment 'Costapiebles' and there were many people at his house that night and Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor were among those who were praising Bakshi sahab. I had met Raj Kapoor many times but my senior Mr. R.M.Kumtakar, who introduced me to all his friends there because he liked it, and he also introduced me to the great showman there, who was drunk then! I shook hands with him politely but the showman said in a loud voice "Hey boy where are your hands?" and before I could say anything, he shouted again and said, "Does anyone talk like this with Raj Kapoor?" I did not want to spoil Bakshi sahab's party and I told the showman, "I am having some pain in my back" and before I could finish my sentence, the showman again said, "Boy your days are over, you will die soon." However and unfortunately for him and I, I did not die after his prediction, thank God and I am still alive, but I will never forget this one of my unfortunate moments with the showman. The next morning Bakshi sahab called me and apologised and asked me to have lunch with him and his wife, an invitation that started our friendship that lasted till the very end!

It was his daughter's wedding reception at Sun-n-Sand Hotel in Juhu, where some of the best parties were held in the 70s and 80s. And I was invited by Bakshi sahab and even though I hated attending weddings and wedding receptions, I made it a goal and reached Sun-n-Sand. Bakshi sahab was on the stage with the newlywed couple and was busy welcoming the guests. And then suddenly, I heard a voice that sounded like Bakshi sahab's and that voice said, 'Ali Ali, mera Ali aa gaya, ab abhi kya achha nahi?' This was no mere show of emotions! He came down from the stage and took me to an empty table where I would feel comfortable and asked the waiters to take special care of me. I wondered how I would repay this kind man for his gratitude!

We talked about many important topics and people, but what Bakshi sahab said about his friend and idol Dilip Kumar is still fresh in my memory even after so many years! Though we were sitting and drinking in the same Sun-n-Sand hotel when Dilip Kumar passed by in his white trousers and spotless white shirt. Bakshi sahab took one look at Shahenshah and took a long drag of his favourite cigarette and said, “Log na jaane kyun yahan wahan Khuda ko dhoodh dekhte pher karte hai, unko kaho ki agar Khuda ko hi dekhna hai, to aakar ek baar Dilip Kumar ke dekhne, unko Khuda hi nahi, samay saara jahaan mil jaayega”, and he had tears in his eyes while saying this! I still don’t know why those tears came to Bakshi sahab’s eyes all of a sudden!

In the late 70s, Bakshi sahab kept falling ill regularly and was admitted to Nanavati Hospital. His addiction to cigarettes, which he called his love, had taken a heavy toll on his lungs. His illness kept increasing in severity. I myself used to visit him every day. One day, one of his sons told me that he was in a critical condition and I rushed to him and found him lying unconscious, but believe me, when he saw me, he was alert and I can never forget the last words he said to me. He said, “Ali I don’t want to die” and the doctors declared that all his organs had failed and the magician of emotions and words left us.

And a few days before his death, Bakshi sahab wrote a very “brave” poem in which he showed that he was not afraid of death. But what can a person do about death? It has to come and take you away, whether you are a Shahenshah or a beggar, Bahadur Shah Zafar or Anand Bakshi.

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