Jan 17, 2006

Just the other day I was talking to a friend and our discussion tilted towards politics, towards George Fernandes, the great politician, in particular. My friend became nostalgic.  

“You mean our George uncle?” he asked me in total excitement. “The dynamic Mr Fernandes? Do you know he was very close to my grandfather? Whenever my grandfather visited New Delhi, he stayed with George uncle at his Krishna Menon Marg residence. What a wonderful person he is. Down-to-earth! (Whatever it means!). Do you know something; they both were born in the same month, June, in the same city, Mangalore, behind the same Bijai church. But when Fernandes family moved to Bangalore my grandfather missed such a wonderful neighbour!”

Daijiworld exclusive caricature by Harini

This was after George became the Defence Minister. I also remember my similar conversation with another neighbour of Mr. Fernandes, from Millers Road, Bangalore. Only the time was different. It was the Emergency period, and the dynamic Fernandes was just being arrested at Calcutta.

“You mean that Dynamite Fernandes?” – my friend was furious for addressing him as George’s neighbour! “What rubbish! “ he said. “How the hell can you associate me with him? I don’t remember seeing him anytime in our neighbourhood!

It was around the same time I was staying in a College campus in Mangalore where George Fernandes did his initial schooling. When I mentioned this to the then school’s chaplain, he was not too impressed.

“Maybe...” - he said in a faint voice.  “There are so many students who studied in this school and excelled in life. Some of them went to Europe and to the U.S. and some of them to jail.”

I knew he was referring to George Fernandes.

It is our own perception and the time that makes our neighbour, good or bad. The choice is yours. Sometimes you may find him closer to your heart and sometimes at the other side of the river.

“Nothing has changed, really: said George Fernandes once while replying to a reporter. “ I was always there where I belonged. Right at the centre. During the Emergency days the cops were behind me, to arrest me and now they march in front of me, to take care of my personal safety and to announce my arrival. It all depends on an element called ‘Time' and the perception of people around you at that moment of time”.

Who were my good or bad neighbours?

While I was staying in the campus of a well-known college in Mumbai, I remember having Helen, the dancer, Agha the actor, Kalyanji Anandji, the music directors and many other celebrities as my next-door neighbours. Rajni Patel, the politician and Madhu Mehta of Hindustan Andolan were also staying close by.

The sisters or daughters of these celebrities were either the past or current students of our college. For example, Swaroop Sampat (who later married Paresh Rawal), and Reena, the beautiful daughter of Mahendra Kapoor, were among our blessed students.

I also had Busybee (Behram Contractor, the founder - Editor of ‘Mid-day’) in the vicinity of my campus; so also Adi Marzban, the great English dramatist and so on.

It was fun talking about these celebrities, their lifestyle, their tantrums, etc. Like how Agha’s son came one day for the admission for his younger sister, and returned disappointed, for by then the admissions were closed. None of the nuns were aware of the popularity of their celebrity neighbour! 

“Sister, I am your next-door neighbour” pleaded the film star’s son, Jalal Agha. “My father is a great Hindi film comedian” 

But the Sisters of Sacred Heart were not impressed. They hardly watched Hindi movies. For them the sons or daughters of celebrities were like any other aspiring parents. Delay was delay. Whether you are a comedian or a tragedy king was not their problem.

Jalal Agha had to go back, fuming and red-faced.

We boys were also talking about Salim Khan, then the celebrity scriptwriter, as ‘Sholay’ had just become a super-hit. Javed Akhtar’s was relatively a new name. But Salim was already a known figure for his late-night visits at Helen’s place.  Their love affair was at its pinnacle, which soon transformed into a solemnized wedding and they lived happily thereafter. And we boys stopped maintaining a record of Salim’s late-night visits. 

We had a first-hand record of celebrities who got admitted to a nearby hospital, including Amitabh Bachchan, who was seriously injured during a shoot at Bangalore.

I still remember that night when my younger brother refused to eat his dinner and was hanging around the hospital gates to pray for the speedy recovery of the superstar.

But later his friends disclosed that they were there to make sure Rekha is one among the early visitors !

Indira Gandhi came rushing straight from a foreign tour but Rekha did not turn up. My brother and his friends were much disappointed. 

We knew everyone in the neighbourhood but none of us dared to utter a word about our notorious neighbour Haji Mastan, The Don, whose bungalow was nearby and the Don was behind the bars at that time.  

When I visited Bangalore and asked one of my friends about his immediate neighbours, he cross-questioned me:
 
“Have you heard of Sanjeev Kumar?’

“Yeah, the great actor?’

“Have you heard about Amjad Khan?’

“Yeah, the great villain?”

“Exactly” said my friend “I live behind their Hotel on Cantonment Road. You will see my chawl right from the terrace of their hotel!”

While in Mangalore, I came to know that one of my friends had bought a flat in the city. When I inquired about the location, he said: “You must have heard about Suneil Shetty’s new hotel in Mangalore.  I am staying in the adjacent building. You will find a big poster of Suneil Shetty pasted on a door on the ground floor. That is my flat”.

For a while, I wondered whether the postal addresses have lost their significance. For a while, I doubted the way postal system must be working these days. Do they go searching for Suneil Shetty’s hotel or his boutique to deliver a letter at my friend’s place?

When I came home I asked my wife where her old neighbour, Fiona lived these days.

She said: “Do you know where Pope John Paul II offered the consecrated mass when he visited Mangalore?”

I nodded as if I knew the location. My wife explained further: “She has built a new house just behind the altar that was erected for Pope John Paul’s High Mass. The whole area is a hot property nowadays”.

“But I suppose it was just outside the Bajpe Airport?’

“You gone mad” said my wife. “Bajpe airport was built much later, to commemorate Pope John Paul’s visit to the city.”

And I wondered who her neighbour would be, good or bad.