When Will I See Scenes Like The Ones I Have Been Lucky To See With The Greatest Ever Actor, Dilip Kumar?

Ali Peter John

I cannot but help contrasting the two scenes that come to my mind and play havoc with my emotions. They are both associated with the man I have always loved calling“Saahab"and who is known as Dilip Kumar, Shahenshah and the emperor....

I literally fear going down the slope which leads to the bungalow of Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu. I have not only walked but also run on this slope more than a hundred times, during good times and bad times, but during the last few years, I fear that slope. There is a police van in the compound and they are happily playing cards. It is the best posting they have taught because they have nothing to do and have the best of tea, food and snacks coming straight from the kitchen supervised by Saira Banu. There is an eerie silence all over and even the leaves on the trees can be heard whispering to each other. The huge lobby of the bungalow where some of the greatest people have sat and waited for“Saahab"to come down and give them a“darshan"which they would never forget all their lives. This was the lobby where“Saahab"celebrated all the Eids, his birthday on December 11 and all the major festivals celebrated in India. He was and is one of the first genuinely secular Indians I have known and will never know again.

This was the same lobby where Amitabh Bachchan and his two writer friends, Salim and Javed had barged into post midnight in a state of drunkenness to celebrate the success of their film,“Deewaar"with the man who they unanimously accepted as the ultimate reference point when it came to acting and how“Saahab"had understood their feelings and turned night into day to make them have the time of their lives. This was the lobby where sheikhs and amirs from different gulf countries walked in to just touch“Saahab"and present him with gifts worth an emperor, one of them is said to have been presenting him with the new brand of Mercedes which came into the market. This was also the lobby where “Saahab"played host to the greatest writers and poets. This was the lobby where he and his wife hosted a party like very other parties for the great Sufi singer, Reshma from Pakistan and how can I forget how“Saahab"had asked me to recieve Reshma and her entire team at the gate of the lobby, what an honour it was for me to represent“Saahab", it was double the honour when Reshma asked me how I was related to“Saahab“and I had no words to say. And I can go on and on about all that happened in that lobby, but I think I must mention that rainy day when I walked into the lobby all drenched and he refused to talk to me till he went and brought a huge white towel and handed it over to me and asked me to go into the washroom and dry myself and then his bringing his own white pyjama and a white kurta and asking me to wear them and have a hot cup of tea, a gesture that spoke more than a hundred books could speak about his being so human long before the time“Being Human"had become a brand more than a feeling....

And now that same“Saahab"is lying in bed on one of the upper floors of the bungalow with his still beautiful begam being his nurse for all the twenty-four hours, never leaving his side unless it was something very important to do with his life and their property. As I think about how selflessly Sairaji has been taking care of him, I sincerely think that she should be given an award or recognised as the best nurse in the world. If the term“for better or for worse"used when a couple unites to face the challenges of the world, has to mean anything and if anyone wants to know what that term or that oath means, they have to see Sairaji in service of her husband who has been the pride and the treasure of the world and the human race but who is now lying in a completely helpless state.

There were times in the beginning of the crisis that struck“Saahab"when some of the best known names came to see him and inquired about his health, but slowly they started withering away and once they knew that he could not recognise people, they cruelly stopped walking or driving down the famous slope because like one of his greatest admirers said,“ab inko milkar kya faaydaa? Yeh toh apni begam ko bhi nahi pehchannte"? That one man was saying what many others wanted to say but were not brave enough to say what they really felt and the crowd of such people who have different standards and different feelings for different occasions is only growing these days.

A thousand thoughts crossed my mind that one afternoon when I felt I would be lucky to see“Saahab". I called Sairaji after the security guards at the gate asked me all kinds of questions. She pleaded with me not to insist on seeing“Saahab"in the condition he was in and as she knew the condition of my leg, she volunteered to drive up the slope in her Mercedes only to ask me to pray for“Saahab"and she was very sure that I being one of the greatest admires of Mohammad Yousuf Khan, the real name of“Saahab"would not be able to see the condition in which“Saahab"was in. She had only asked me to pray for“Saahab". I prayed but more than praying I cried because I was now sure that I would not ever see“Saahab"in all his glory and in all his humiliating and that night I asked God only one question--WHY DID YOU, IF YOU TAKE DECISIONS FOR ALL MEN AND WOMEN HAVE TO TAKE SUCH A CRUEL DECISION FOR ONE OF YOUR MOST GLORIOUS CREATIONS ON EARTH, OH GOD?

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