USS DIN MAINE MERE ZINDAGI KA SABSE SHAANDAAR INSAAN KO DEKHA ... NAAM THA DHARMENDRA JO AAJ MERA EK BAHUT HI PYARA DOST HAI

I had studios all around my house and films used to be shot even in the jungles near my village and the Mahakali Caves ( the thousand year old caves have now become a heritage site ) and even in the ruins of an eight hundred year old church - Ali Peter John

I and some of my friends used to sneak into these places to watch stars like Dilip Kumar , Vyjayanthimala , Dara Singh , Mumtaz and down to a struggling star called Rajesh Khanna .

I could never see any shooting in the comfort I wanted to . And if there was one star who I really wanted to just see , it was Dharmendra.

They say that if you pursue a goal with all the passion , the goal comes closer and then come true .

My neighbour , Z ,D Lari was an assistant director of Amar Kumar who had made films like "Garam Coat " and "Jhumroo" and was a good friend of the well-known writer Rajinder Singh Bedi who had written the dialogue for Bimal Roy's "Devdas" and other interesting films .

Mr Lari had asked me if I would like to watch Dharmendra shooting for a song at the Ranjit Studio .

How could I say no to an opportunity which I was madly looking for ? But , I had to take the permission of my mother and even ask her for some money .

But when I told her I was going to watch Dharmendra shooting , she not only gave me permission and a few rupees , but even told me that she would have liked to see Dharmendra herself , but she was too busy earning our bread and butter and said she would make all arrangements to see Dharmendra shooting some time in the future ( that some time however didn't come for her ).

I was only 13 and the prospect of seeing Dharmendra live gave me a sleepless night and the next morning I was ready to leave with Mr Lari . I had to bunk school even though I was considered to be a good student .

We took a train to Dadar and Mr Lari ( he later was the associate director of Bedi when he was making the award winning film , "Dastak" and directed his first film , "Sweekar Kiya Maine" ) .

It was the first time that I had a breakfast which consisted of hot milk and hot jalebis and I will always be grateful to Me Lari for that delicious treat .

The little hotel in which we were sitting was packed with men who only kept talking about Hindi films and stars , I would have loved to listen to their talk , but Mr Lari said that we had to be on the sets at 9 am because Dharmendra was to arrive at 9 sharp .

Mr Lari left me alone and went off to do his work which was to see that all the arrangements on the set was perfect and I kept anxiously waiting for the arrival of Dharmendra who everyone referred to as "Dharamji " .

It was 9 30 and then. 10 30 and Dharmendra had still not reached the sets . But at the stroke of 11 , a car drove in and I saw men and women running after his car till he reached the sets on which the directior , Amar Kumar , writer Rajinder Singh Bedi and a choreographer with all their assistants were waiting for two hours . They all were very happy when Dharmendra walked in, greeting everyone in Punjabi .

My heart started beating faster and kept threatening to break when I saw the most handsome face I had seen till that morning .

I couldn't take my eyes off him and even at that young age , I wondered if this was my condition on seeing him , what would be the condition of the lakhs of women who swooned even if they just saw his photographs.

The shooting started and Dharmendra took his position to start shooting . I kept looking at him as he was more engrossed in keeping the curl on his forehead in place.

A song kept playing in the background and the first lines of the song were " hui shaam, unka khayal aaya " the song was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri .

The name of the film was "Mere Humdum Mere Dost" and Sharmila Tagore was the leading lady of the film .

The song kept playing and Dharmendra looked more and more handsome and charming . The song was supposed to be a sad song in which Dharmendra is said to be drinking at a bar and remembering his beloved ( Sharmila ) .

It was time for a break for lunch . And I was taken to a room where some amazing food was served and they called this food " studio ka lunch " but for me, it was a feast .

And before I could finish my lunch , I had a sweet and stormy surprise. Dharmendra himself had walked into the room and floored me when he asked me , " kaise ho bacche , khana theek hai na ? " And words just refused to come to me .

I couldn't stay for the shooting after lunch as I had promised my mother that I would be back by 4 o clock .

But I wanted to meet Dharmendra at least for a few minutes before I left and my wish was fulfilled when I saw Dharmendra walking alone in the compound of the studio .

I went up to him and introduced myself to him . His large hands held my small hand and he asked me , " ,"Aage kya karna hai bacche ?" And I told him I wanted to be a bus conductor and he said , '" bada socho, bacche , mujhe tumhaari aankon mein ek accha bhavisshya dikhaayi de raha hai .

dharmendra

Pado, likho , hausla rakho , ek din tum kuch banoge . Usne chaaha toh hum kabhi phir milenge "

Those lines seemed to be like a prediction . I worked with my guru ,K A Abbas . I joined "Screen" . I met Dharamji . It is more than.

40 years since we met and today Dharamji is 85 and I will be 71 , and we are the best of friends and we are like bhais and even call each other darubhai .

We also exchange thoughts on various subjects and he recites his latest poems written in Urdu , which are more intoxicating than the whiskey we used to have once.

. DOSTI KISKE SAATH KAB , KYON AUR KAISE HOTI HAI , YE DOSTON KO BHI MAALOOM NAHI HOTA . LEKIN DOSTI AGAR NAHI HOTI TOH ZINDAGI KA NAMAK HI DHOOL HI JAATA AUR ZINDAGI MEIN RASS NAHI HOTA . DOSTON DOSTI MUBARAK . AGAR DOSTI NAHI KI HAI TOH KAR LO DIL SE UNSE DOSTI KA MATLAB SAMAJ THE HO