LOCKDOWN KE INN KAALE DINON MEIN AUR KAALI RAATON MEIN JHASHN MANAANA GALAT HI NAHI , GUNAAH HAI, LEKIN MAIN JASHN MANAATA GAYA, MAIN KYA KAROON?

These are some of the most dark, depressing and disgusting days in the history of time. There is the kind of sad pall of gloom all over and there is a strange and scary combination of fear and hatred which is trying to kill the spirit of love - ALI PETER JOHN

The lockdown has changed the very colour of life. But , I have found my own way ofrl making life a little more colourful and after trying out many ways of surviving through this lockdown ,I have found my own way of celebrating this lockdown.

At the very outset, I must thank my mobile ( which I used to dislike ones) for opening up a whole new world for me.

There are times when I feel the whole world is locked in my mobile and I have to just switch on my mobile and the world I need to see comes right before my eyes.

And the one world I love seeing is the world where I have spend my whole life - the world of entertainment which people think is all fun and games, but don't have the time and the inclination to know the reality behind this glamorous and glorious world.

I wake up in the morning to the chirping and singing of birds who I have seen gone for a long vacation and have come back since they have found the lock down to be the best time to have the best of their lives.

And the first face I see on my mobile is the face of Lata Mangeshkar and her many faces from the time she was six to the time now when she is 92 years old.

I know that she cannot sing for me now but my mobile gives me the glimpses of her life and songs she has sung down the years.

And she moves my heart like she has been doing for god knows how many years when she sings songs about a child singing the praises of a mother and then another song in which she cries about missing his mother.

I have been listening to these songs ever since I was a child and they make the same impact on me even now.

And in addition to her singing these songs, it is my caretaker Pushpa who is from Siliguru but can hum and sing atleast a few lines of most of the Lata Mangeshkar's song.

I can listen to Lata ji's sing all through the day and even through the night and my mobile gives me several other options as attractive and tempting.

I close my session with Lata ji with two of my other favourite songs, 'Lag ja gale' and ' Ek pyaar ka nagma hai, zindagi aur kuch bhi nahi teri meri kahaani hai'.

And as I have my first large cup of tea , I listen to the voice of God, Mohammad Rafi and the way he sings, I feel god himself has come to my house with Rafi to give me the experience of listening to some of the greatest songs sung in more than thirty times and with the kind of feeling that I find difficult to believe.

How could a man who lived like a sufi sing some of the most divine songs and also some of the most boisterous songs with the same passion?

I stopped listening to Rafi only after he sings 'O duniya ke rakhwaale' and when he sings these bhajans with all his soul, mind and body.

The way he sings bhajans , I feel his voice would tear through the sky, reach heaven and touch the heart of God and break into pieces but that is the magic of Rafi's voice which is still the same even though he died more than forty years ago and it will be a voice that will be heard for forty thousand years and more.

By the time I finish listenibg to Rafi, Lata , Asha Bhonsle, Geeta Dutt, Mukesh , Manna Day , Mahendra kapoor and Bhupendra, it is lunch time for me and I have my lunch only when I am listening to the mad and movung songs of Kishore kumar.

My afternoon session begins with my all time favourite Devanand. I cannot take my eyes off from this most dashing, handsome and charming man who enchanted several generations of men, women and children and continues to do.

If I was a woman , I don't know how many times I would have fallen in love with him. And I cannot imagine how there are fans who have so many different photographs of him from different films and from different moments and events in his memorable life.

He had the largest fan following and as time goes on, his fan following keeps growing. Every time I see one of his faces, especially in black and white photographs, my heart glows and my tongue sings " O god".

I have a book I have written about Dev which I was supposed to release for my birthday , but these jealous virus has ruined my dream ,but like Dev I have not given up hope.

I will bring out the book titled 'My Dev' which I will if all goes well bring out on Dev's birthday on September 26.

I am not a partial man, especially when it comes to the three legends, Dilip Kumar , Raj kapoor and Dev.

They all have their individual identities and it is always a pleasure to see them alone and together.

One look had the three of them together gives me the feeling of celebrating a major festival.

The other male star whose looks warm up my heart are the ever so dashing Dharmendra and I believe that a hero is so charming, handsome and also innocent and I don't know if people agree with me about what I say about Dharmendra but I cannot change my mind about him for whatever the world may offer me.

The other male star who won my heart is the greatest romantic hero (after Dev) is Rishi kapoor who like Dev has girls as his devoted fans, he was one hero who stole the hearts of girls even after he married to Neetu Singh.

There are the other kapoor heroes like Shammi kapoor and Shashi kapoor, but they don't make the same impact as Rishi does.

And then during my tea break , I watch my favourite heroins of my boyhood. And the one who charms me of my feet is Nutan who I had the pleasure of meeting several times.

The other actresses who keep making my tea are undoubtedly Madubala, Vaijayanti Mala, Wahida Rehman, Mala Sinha and Nargis. There are many others, but these women are just out of this world.

Then my evenings are dedicated to all the great filmmakers like Raj kapoor, Guru Dutt, K Asif, Mehboob khan and Gulzar.

By the time I have celebrated my unusual festival, it is midnight and sometimes even 2 in the morning and I play the same two songs about a mother and go to bed, till the birds come singing to my window and wish me a good morning.

This is the kind of festival that I will see even if I don't have a mobile and even if corona keeps threatening me.

GUZRA HUA ZAMAANA AATA NAHI DOBARA. LEKIN MERE LIYE WOH ZAMAANA KABHI GUZARTA NAHIN AUR KABHI GUZREGA BHI NAHI. MERI EK APPEAL HAI AAJ KE GAAYAK AUR KALAKAARON SE KI WOH WAQT NIKAALKAR INN KALAKAARON KO DEKHEIN AUR INKE KAAM KO BHI, HO SAKTA HAI INKA BHAVISHYA AUR BHI ROSHAN HO JAAYE.