MERE JANAMDIN KAA NASHAA ABHI UTRAA NAHI HAI

One of the best gifts I received on my birthday was a t-shirt which my very beautiful young friend Aarti had brought for me . It was a t-shirt on which she hsd got the words , "Meri pyaari maa" inscribed - Ali Peter John

Aarti knew my weakness for my mother which was my only strength and she remembered it and made me cry with joy when I received the priceless gift from her.

There have been other gifts coming in . But the three most amazing gifts I hve received is a promise from Hridayesh arts ( founded by Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar) .

It was told to me that the organisation wanted to honour me at a grand function for my completing 50 years in journalism and 71 years of my life . They were only waiting for the auditoriums to open up in Mumbai .

The 2nd gift was a promise to release my book on Amitabh Bachchan on which I have worked very hard and the lock downs have made the publishers stop the work on the book .

There is another offer from a publisher from California who wants to publish any of my books , but I have decided to give him the freedom to publish a collection of my articles written down the years.

And the one gift I am most excited about is the offer to write a book on my favourite subject , the one , the only and the one like there can never be another , Dev Anand .

Aye khudah , tune mujhe jahaan tak layaa , sukhriyaa tumharaa . Ab bass kuch waqt de do hame ki hum kam se kam Dev Sahaab ki kitaab likhne taq zindaa rahe. Aye Covid, tu bhi zara meri baat sun le.