SUNDAY FEATURE

Life has many shades and it keeps on changing like weather, today I am going to share life of one of my brother, who is also a very famous and reputed actor in Bollywood; a first generation actor with no godfather. He has built his stature playing the beautiful and powerful characters in the last four decades of his journey. His journey started in the early 80s, which was an era when one take artists or character artists were not given the respect they deserved. It was because of artists like him this myth was broken and such artists got appreciation which they always were denied of.

 Sanjai Mishra is not a name which today needs any introduction, as we say ‘Naam hi kafi hai’

A post Coronavirus world shall be little different, though right now with focus on survival, this world is not on our horizon.

The virus has definitely originated in Wuhan, and from there spread across the world. Whether the mutation was in a lab, accidentally released, or occurred naturally, and then transmitted via the Wuhan Wet Market, would never be known, considering the secretive Chinese policies. The Chinese are hiding something - whether it's number of deaths, origins of this virus, or why it never reached Beijing and Shanghai. To deflect attention, as a counter IW, the Chinese are suggesting that the 300 US personnel in World Military Games released it, an absurd claim, but nevertheless it's there, and shall be repeated. The Chinese are also scrubbing their old articles on the internet, replacing the word Wuhan virus with Coronavirus. Even the past is not safe!

Life has many shades and it keeps changing like the weather, depending upon the circumstances and the surroundings. Each shade teaches you something important which leaves great impact on us. It was year 2004, my friend who was associated with me was given a task to find a lawyer to file a Company Appeal in the High Court of Uttaranchal at Nainital (Now Uttarakhand). It was a new High Court, established after reorganization of a new state, and a very handful of lawyers in the High Court were available. The jurisdiction being Company law, it was really a challenge for my friend to find a lawyer who was conversant with this branch of law.

Finally, on his return my friend he informed that he was unable to find a senior lawyer having much knowledge of law in the particular branch, and he was very happy about having identified a relatively young lawyer, claiming “mere ko pure high court main ek ladka upright and smart laga, maine usi ko brief de diya” (In the entire High Court I could find one upright and smart lawyer whom I assigned the brief).

Life has many shades and it keeps changing like the weather, depending upon the circumstances and the surroundings. Each shade teaches you something important which leaves great impact on us.

I am narrating a true story, which has impacted me to a great extent. My cousin, an IPS Officer, with an impeccable track record, an upright, honest and a decorated cop, like every officer wanted his only son to follow his footsteps and crack civil services examination. With this dream and desire he put his son in one of the most prestigious and reputed school in Delhi, where sons and daughters of the civil servants get preference in admission.

Alyque Padamsee became India’s greatest story-teller at a time when we were still coming to terms with our self-worth as a nation, idealistic to the core but yet apologetic, fumbling, barefooted and unsure about screaming out loud on the world stage. Films were the only expression of our aspiration or wish fulfillment and incredible  though we may have been, there was no concept of Brand India, ambassadors and advertising. India’s greatest ad guru, who passed away at the ripe old age of 90 — literally as a vanguard of a nation in transit — shaped our identity in popular culture. A people who could have aspirations, chase them and make them happen while retaining their innate Indianness. And concretise wishful thinking with home-grown products. In that sense, he sold us our first global dream. No wonder, till date he is considered the only god of Indian advertising and sales.