UMAR BHAR MEIN KACHHUE KI CHAAL CHALTA RAHA, AUR KHARGOSH MERE SE SHARMAATE RAHE

Yesterday, a friend who use to work with me as my junior in screen called me after more than 30 years and said that he was back in Mumbai and he wanted to spend an evening with me - Ali Peter John

I had no problems in recognising him because he was a man with a style, and accents and an attitude all his own which had not changed, I felt .

He asked me in which five star hotel I would like to meet him and I told him that i would like to see him in my cafe where I sat every evening and walked and road and thought till I got tired and the sun too got tired and we both went back home.

His instant response to what I said was ," Tum kabhi bhi sudhroge nahi" and I kept waiting for him and he lived up to reputation and reached and hour and a half late , but I didn't give up hope for old time's sake .

He finally made it after the sun left and I was in no mood to stay back and when I saw him , I couldn't recognize him because he didn't look like the Zafar Inamdar I knew , but like some shaikh from Dubai and that was were he had spent 30 of the best years of his life.

He sat cross-legged in the chair next to my chair and said , " Aur batao Ali , tumne kitne flats kharide aur kitni gaadiyan hai tumhare pass , shaadi waadi ki hai ki nahi ?

And before I could answer any of his question, he ask me " tumne gaadi kaha khadi ki hai ?" .

I laughed at him and told him , " mere paas woh kuch bhi nahi hai jo tum samjhate ho mere paas ho sakti hai, mere paas sirf ek kholi hai aur woh bhi bhaade par hai aur main rickshaw se jaata hu woh bhi isliye ki meri baayi tang puri tarah toot chuki hai " .

My former junior colleague started looking at me with pitty and kept boasting about the land he had bought in Alibagh , the three marriages he had , the several apartments he had in Mumbai and the alimony he had given to two of his wife .

I was getting sick with his boasts and stop talking about myself because I knew it was not worth talking about me and my riches to a man who had a very different idea of riches and wealth ...

This problem about their riches and my riches has been a part of my life ever since how I have learned to live life on my own terms and conditions.

For me , having a roof of any kind over my head, two square means and a lot of self respect is more than all the riches of all the sultan's and emperor of the world .

For me making Dilip Kumar agree to be the chairman of my jury in two minutes is worth more than all the wealth in the world .

For me Amitabh Bachchan agreeing to attend 22 of my function and book release function without a request is worth more than all the tower , temples of treasures and mandirs of murtis in the world .

For me Subhash Ghai releasing six of twenty books is a wealth more rich man can ever possesses .

For me Madhuri Dixit agreeing to do a mad black and white photo session with an age old camera on a day when there is violence all over Mumbai is more valuable than all the jewellery around the necks of real and artificial gods and goddesses .

I can go on and on to show and prove how I am one of the wealthiest man around even though I have no house ,no car and no bank account . Sorry for sounding humble , but such is separate truth about my life and I cannot change it, thank God ...

This one story will give you an idea about what my life has been so far and how it cannot changed .

A new photographer who was originally from Nepal had settled down in Mumbai when it was Bombay and his name was Rakesh Shrestha .

He was the first glamour photographer from Kathmandu who had just making a name in Bombay.

He was very smart in the worldly wave and realised my importance when the producer of a film got me a suite with him at the Broadway Hotel which was the only five star hotel in Srinagar in the early 80's , I think .

He kept following me in the hope of being introduced to all the big and not do big stars.

I was with him at the Mehboob studios one afternoon when he told me that it was his dream to photograph Amitabh Bachchan who was the dream if every big and small photographer those days .

He must have forgotten what he told, but I didn't . I told Amitabh about his dream and Amitabh told me to fixed up a photo session for him in which he would pose with the three new and young heroines of the time Manisha Journals, Raveena Tandon and Karishma Kapoor .

Rakesh couldn't believe what I told him and when he believe , he set up the shoot in an apartment in a building called Josephine .

The shoot was fixed for 11 am and Amitabh was there even before Rakesh and his assistant could be there .

I followed him and the excitement the tension began . Amitabh was followed by the nervous as nervous can be girls , Raveena and Karishma who walked in together.

Amitabh did everything to make the girls feel easy and they were comfortable only after and hour ...

But Manisha had still not reached and I was frantically trying to get in touch with Subhash Ghai with whom Manisha was on a contract which meant that she couldn't do even a photo session without his permission .

At around 1 pm , Subhash Ghai himself called me and said that he didn't want Manisha to be a part of this photo session as he had his own ideas to publicized her before the release of his film Saudagar in which she was to make her beginning .

Ghai's decision came as a jolt , but Amitabh was cool and told me , " I knew this was coming , so let's not waste time and continue with these sweet girls who have been waiting for so long " .

The shoot went on for more than two hours and the way Rakesh Shrestha kept running from one corner to another with his camera , Amitabh looked at me and said " yeh aapka dost langoor ke tarah khudtaa kyun hai ? usse bolo ki woh hamara concentration bigaad deta hai ? " And Amitabh said spoiled the concentration of Rakesh Shrestha totally .

But the total dedication and discipline of Amitabh made the photo session the most memorable session for Rakesh Shrestha who became the most popular in fashion photographers among the stars after this session . ...

But , what happened with success to some small people also happen to Rakesh Shrestha . He had his own studio in versova .

He had special makeup room and rest rooms for stars. He didn't care for smaller stars and entering his studio was like entering a holy place , which was not so holy .

And the worst happened when the same Rakesh Shrestha who use to beg of me to get him assignments with big stars made nasty remarks about me when I had fallen on bad days and past comments like , " Yeh Ali Peter John hai ek zaamane mein bahut bade aadmi the " and very soon he himself fell from grace .

Their was a major tragedy in his family and his reputation was never the same again ...

It is more than 30 years since I saw him last from their near Aaram Nagar . He was certainly not the haughty and naughty Rakesh Shrestha I knew when he had just come to Mumbai from Nepal .

I have now heard that his only son Rohan Shrestha is also growing to be a good photographer and is also said to marry Shraddha Kapoor .

I can only wish him all the best an even pray for him and his to be wife who is also the daughter of Shakti Kapoor and Shivani who I have seen as children .

I only hope Rohan accept his father as a guru in photography and certainly not as an idol human being .