Flash back to pre-2104 era and most of the countrymen could easily recall the women’s wing of the main opposition that time the Bharatiya Janata Party and its nationwide protests against the Congress-led UPA government, with its top leader, the  then leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj in the vanguard.

The BJP held nationwide protests against inflation, corruption, foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, the increase in diesel prices and the BLACK MONEY. Swaraj had called on party members to work for the fall of the government. “After this, our government will come back in power and you will get rid of corruption, inflation and price hike in diesel and petrol prices.”

Swaraj had accused Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi of being insensitive to women trying to run households amid high prices. “This government is raising prices frequently. Prices of petrol and diesel have doubled in UPA’s eight years in power. Needless to say what is happening at all these fronts today – Achche Din !

And now in power, say absolute power, the BJP government is getting a taste of its own medicine, with no control over its foul-mouthed ministers and leaders. The discord is now causing an implosion within the party with a difference. The statements of now-in-opposition parties are not much different from what the BJP used to say when it used to block the House business, citing scams. The drumbeat is the same but the context this time is different.

As the famous Urdu couplet goes:

“Baghban ne di aag jab ashiyaney ko mere, jin pa tha takiya wahi patte hawa dene lage.”

When the gardner himself set on fire my abode, the leaves that were meant to provide the cushion for comfort Deserted me!

And it has exactly happened today in Gujarat – a state that is taken for granted the most secure, oldest, reliable and fortified castle of BJP that was supported by the Patel community. They had stood loyal to BJP since the last Congress fell decades ago. Today, in the BJP chief Amit Shah’s meeting with leaders of the Patidar community in Surat, it all turned into chaos as supporters of Hardik Patel went on a rampage there, chanting his name and vandalizing the furniture.

Amit Shah was in Surat to attend a huge rally by the BJP to honor the new Patel ministers in the government led by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The rally was seen as not only a show of strength by the BJP in the state heading for elections but also a gesture to reconnect with the Patidar community that had been on a collision course with the BJP over their demand for quota in jobs and education.

It was supposed to be felicitation program organized by some Patidar Business Leaders of Surat to show their loyalty to BJP. As soon as Shri Amit Shah came on the stage while Union minister Purshottam Rupala was speaking, the crowds began to chant “Hardik, Hardik” and soon they were breaking chairs. The police was called in and they physically removed the trouble-makers from the venue. Amit Shah could speak for only 6 minutes, by which time, only 20 per cent of the audience remained.

As expected, the BJP leaders accused the Congress of creating trouble. “The program went on smoothly, only a handful of unruly elements instigated by the Congress tried to disrupt it,” said senior state BJP leader KC Patel.

These is now no more smooth sailing for RSS / BJP in its favorite fortress. Hardik Patel, whose name the crowd was chanting, was the face of the agitation that shook the state for over 40 days last year. At the time, the 23-year-old had challenged the BJP government, saying “If you hurt this community, the government will collapse”.

Even in his Facebook post, he had challenged Amit Shah, saying, “I request Amit Shah to stay away from the Patel community’s agitation to get reservation. We will not stop it just because you want it. The agitation will not stop till I am alive. And if you still want to crush the stir by force, then you will have to kill me.”

The moral of the story is: When you oppose, remember it may soon be your turn to propose.

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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As a growing up kid I wanted to be an old man so that nobody should stop me going to where I wanted to go. My mother won’t let me go very often out of the home. There was strict control for the moments to be consumed outside while I wanted to play tiny polychromatic glass balls with the street urchins on the road;

I wanted to play hit-woodblock game on the street with the neighbor’s oafs.

I wanted to climb the roofs to fly the kite; I wanted to go into the remotely located field to play rubber-ball-hit with all kind of boys and I wanted to just stroll by the railways line and enjoy the magnificent silence and the loneliness that the scenery offered.

I wanted to go free on my volition. My mother won’t let me go. As a growing up kid I wanted to be an old man so that nobody should stop me going to where I wanted. Later on, one of the poem I read about the ‘liberated soul.’ I thought it was about me.

And now I’ve grown up an old man. My mother is no more and so my father. Now nobody stops me where I go. Nobody seems to be interested where I go. Because I’ve grown up now.

I can still bring back the memory of small preparation that my mother did on my 13th Birthday. She cooked the rice in milk and sugar and put some nuts, covered the junket with wafer thin real silver- foil (chandi waraq). I don’t remember any birthday celebration after that. There might have been very many reasons to let go that day. Surely, poverty was one of them.

Then time passed like the Hindi song – ‘Rat jaise guzar jaye sote huey…’

I became rich in time, got plenty of worldly pleasures and possessions. And when I stood on my 64^th Birthday before the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself. I recalled my parents and felt a vacuum in life that was not physical but spiritual. It is pity that we often don’t savor those great  moments when we travel through them; we don’t understand the feelings of those who loved us once and parted from us.

As we travel along the tedious bumpy roads of lie, we celebrate birthdays as routine and ritual without taking stock of what has passed by. Everyone knows what birthdays are supposed to look like? When we were young, we looked for a romantic dinner with a bunch of good friends and relations on that day. And as the years rolled by, we wanted a secure and happy evening of that day with a lot of extended families. We enter the silver zone and day of birthday winds up as usual.

And when you are alone in your bed and your spouse escaped into the zone of  comfortable sleep, a  big nasty bells rings in mind; a call that everything to do with birthdays ends up being exactly the opposite of what we think they should be: Our unsuccessful aspirations, expectations and sense of guilt. We failed in our expectations and that leads to feelings of disappointment, depression, and sadness.

Where we’re actually at in life may not be exactly where we expected to be at during this age. All too often, birthdays become a nightmare, a reminder of all the things we haven’t accomplished, of all the ways we are behind our peers, or all the things we are lacking.

I’ve been deluding myself into thinking that for the past decade that I’m still 21. I feel young in my mind. So when those birthdays roll around reminding me that I am a 64-something now, I feel the loss of all that time with little to show for it. Where did all those decade go?

As a growing up kid once I wanted to be an old man so that nobody should stop me going to where I wanted to go. My mother won’t let me go. Now I’m entering the twilight zone of my life. As I am grown up I want someone to tell me – Don’t go there!

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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There are times when aesthetics and humanism take the upper hand over all the material gains, power and pelf in life. Few moments of awakening, recollection, remorse and helplessness inform about the futility of worldly pleasures; we feel sorry for a wrong which was done by us and others; we comprehend that hellish situations could have been easily corrected provided the bloated egos were softened for the sake of next generations, for the sake of history; when we feel there is still some scope for reparation, redress and redeeming. And I felt that last night when I attended an event conducted by Sufi Singer Sonam Kalra at ‘India Habitat Centre,’ Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

It was an excellent presentation narrating the stories of ‘India-Pakistan Partition’ supported by Sonam’s mesmerizing rendition, mellifluous music and videos. The graceful lady, a Sikh by birth sings gospel numbers, Sufi epics of Waris Shah, Bhullay Shah and Kabir. Ghazals of Faiz become a real treat and she says: ‘I work with a keyboard player and guitarist who are Christian, my accompanists on the sarangi and tabla are Muslim, my flautist and percussionist are Hindu; this is a testament that when in matters of faith and music, religion is not relevant.’

According to Sonam Kalra, when India was partitioned, my great grandfather’s family took a lot of people to protect them because they had a large estate. But one day he called his two youngest daughters and said, ‘I’ve a favour to ask you. If the mob comes, if the mob overpowers us, I will shoot you. But promise me that you won’t cry when I do, for it will break my heart.’ Kalra’s family has its root in Punjab that is now a part of Pakistan.

On August 19, 2016, she revisited the event that changed the life of 14 million people that time. And she was inspired for this show when during a cricket match, she saw a man at Indian-Pakistani border carrying a child on his shoulders. The child held a banner on which it was scribbled – “Laali ankhiyan di dasdi hai, roya assi vi.” It could be transliterated into – “The redness of your eyes shows both have cried.” Inspired with these two lines of Ustad Daman, the Sufi-Singer-Icon worked for months to create a scintillating thoughtful evening that includes music, installation art, real life narrative of people who were displaced by partition.

The reading of narration effectively is itself a great art and it was performed in superb way by actor Salima Raza. The greater stories she narrated were very much conforming the style of Raza Mohiuddin. She declaimed Urdu poems, short comments and accounts of sufferers.

Karla innocent wish is worth reading both sides of border:

“I hope that in revisiting these stories through music, we will be able to empathise, ponder and realize the way forward. Hopefully a way of peaceful co-existence based on shared grief, a shared loss, a shared history and a shared love.”

Inside, it was so touching and fascinating to hear the suppressed sobs and often cries that were echoed in the darkness of IHC auditorium from the crowd that was a cocktail of all Indians. At the end, the people were out from the hall with pain and sorrow suffused on their faces. They were spilling on the ‘India Habitat’ lawns wiping their tears.

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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And lo! The Second defeat of RSS / BJP in the Mighty Hills! The BJP got played out and found a double political omelette upon its face. The Supreme Court has again proved that it is the REAL Institution that can protect DMOCRACY, a Guardian of Indian Constitution against fanatic communal manipulators who had played a day-light political heist in Arunachal and earlier in Uttrakhand. The august House of Justice has delivered a major blow to the RSS / BJP government at the Centre and restored Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh after quashing the President’s Rule.

A five-judge Constitution Bench, in an unanimous and unprecedented verdict, quashed all the decisions of the Governor that had led to imposition of the President’s Rule in the state, calling his actions as “illegal” and violative of the Constitutional provisions. The bench held that status quo ante as prevailing on December 15, 2015 — when Nabam Tuki headed the Congress government in the state — shall be restored.

“All steps and decisions taken by Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly pursuant to the Governor’s decisions are unsustainable and the same are therefore set aside,” held the bench.

Following the decisions by Governor J P Rajkhowa, the Assembly session was preponed, a new speaker was elected and later based on his report, the President’s Rule was imposed. Even as the top court was hearing the matter, the proclamation was lifted and rebel Congress leader Kalikho Pul was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the new government.

This is the first order by the Supreme Court reinstating a government in a state even after it had been replaced by a new government.

The Ex and now Restored Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Nabam Tuki said reacting to the decision: “the court has saved the country and constitution. We have got justice.”

The decision of the court once again ensures the country that Cowards, manipulators, and backstabbers who encourage to destabilise the democracy, still have someone to fear about. The BJP leadership claims that it was the internal matter of Congress. However, BJP had openly encouraged and supported the Congress rebellion. The opportunistic MLA’s of Congress took the risks that they could have done without – they don’t have to.

The BJP acted as posture in shadows. It was an Old BJP trick, a strategy that let others get dirty. We step into the light when it’s safe. Players and manipulators always drive toward self-interest, secretly. Even when making others look bad.

The BJP’s Ruse: Let at the moment, the weaker Congress, make a further divide in its ranks and their elected ones do the dirty work?

The Supreme Court got the smell of the stench of manipulation and created a high standard of safety for times to come.

Let the RSS beware ! The Democracy is still alert and throbbing !

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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I do often come across the kids whose parents present them as the victors, the prodigal genius and high or highest in mark sheet. Having put them through paces in their own domain I found them as inflated balloons that satisfy the ego of their families. Nothing more.

It is pathetic that so many real genius and hard working kids lag behind in marks before these artificial achievers in a nascent stage.

The topper kids of Bihar are the worse example that Vanity Fair of Education in India produces.

In Bihar, it was a situation pregnant with curiosity, shame, fear and fall. In the video, the Bihar state arts topper Ruby Rai was seen mispronouncing ‘political science’ and calling it prodigal science. The 17-year-old managed an impressive 88.8% despite the fact that she described political science a subject which deals with food. Similarly, another video showed state science topper Saurabh Rai having no knowledge of the periodic table.

Rai, who had scored 485 out of 500 marks, failed to answer questions related to electron and proton. An embarrassed Bihar government has also asked the 10 top scorers among the nearly 15 lakh students in Bihar to take another exam within the next week. Education Minister Ashok Choudhary conceded that it appears that either proxies took the exam for the students or the answer sheets submitted by the students were replaced later. I admit there has been some lapses somewhere,” he said.

As per the earlier documents of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) report revealed the status of education in India, enrolment in elementary education is almost 100 percent. However, when it comes to education outcomes, abilities in reading, writing and other comprehensive skills have deteriorated among children between the ages of six and 14.

Even with the increasing primary enrolment rates, India has the largest number of out-of-school children in the world which is more than the out of school children in whole of sub-Saharan Africa. There is a huge disparity between the urban and rural education; rich and poor children have radically different schooling experience.

The reality is that most of the educational policies of States and Centre are half-baked. Each segment in the educational hierarchy is facing some kind of problems which governments have no solutions or failing to address. The teachers in primary schools in rural areas face an uphill task are dealing with an outdated curriculum combined with the disinterest of principals and boards or commercialization of education.

Poor teaching facilities result in poor quality of education and students with lower standards. There is the chronic shortage of teachers. To make the matters worse, the situation is further deteriorated by high level of teacher absenteeism. It has been found out that often teachers do not come to school which clearly states that there is no mechanism to punish or fine such absent teachers. Consequently, low learning and falling quality of education imparted to kids entail grave implications for the future of country and country’s economy.

Apart from some hi-fi convent schools and similar elite city schools, country has not been able to improve the learning skills of majority of its primary school children. Contrarily, it has fallen to alarming lows.

In the Primary schools, teachers often make students read the lessons without explaining the meaning of the text. The kids never get the basic feel of the subject, be it history, arts or Science A fifth grader cannot do basic multiplication and division and cannot properly read or explain the text. However, most of them are masters of ‘copy it down’ effortlessly. Only a modicum of physical work without any brain work takes them nowhere. There are no opportunities to use the faculties of critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem-solving and collaborative working.

From a weak base and a shaky pad the rocket or the symbol of India’s Future – the ordinary kid, is launched to explore the mysterious and difficult world. He can’t write a proper application for a job. Parental pressures and expectations dump them in Coaching Centers where they often commit suicide as they reach a dead end. You can’t blame Smirithi Irani alone or her degree or absence of it for all ills which beset today’s education. It goes deeper and higher.

If we look back, after the solid and sound foundations laid by learned scholar and first Education Minister Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, this crucial sector of nation building had lost its importance. The Cheap politics, prejudices and corruption had seeped into the system and real problems were intentionally ignored.

A look at the trail the Vyapam scam that has left since 2007 would reveal the pathetic situation of education in India. The scam involves massive irregularities and corruption in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or MP Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal, abbreviated in Hindi as Vyapam. No count of deaths would speak the complete darkness that prevailed or still prevailing.

The height of tragedy unmasked whenthe Supreme Court had transferred all criminal and death cases linked to the Vyapam scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a “fair and impartial” probe. The Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe into the multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board that has resulted in unexplained deaths of key accused and witnesses.

We need a smart and updated education system with no bias against or for the religions, cultures, history and ethics. It should be free of corruption of every possible hue and shape. It should be purpose based on facts and realities and not jaundiced.

An education system is only as good as its teachers. However, when it comes to improvement of academic quality, teachers cannot do it alone. They will be able to give their best only when well-designed atmosphere, facilities, curriculum and assessment strategies are put in place, to improve teaching and learning.

I’ve yet to understand the TRP culture that compelled to quick judgment about these poor toppers of Bihar without full investigations. I pray that kids were lost their bearing in focus of media éclat and they are not as bad as appeared before camera. If the truth is as it appeared on TV, then the nation has to do some soul search and correction without delay.

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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It was around fifteen years when I got to know about Facebook. Since then Facebook has been changing its profiles in several interesting patterns. Friends who had once appeared as the most sincere one have either disappeared or lost in the run of times. Fortunately, some old friends go back into real from the realm of memories and some new friends made their pleasant presence felt. But sad that with the passage of time, Facebook is becoming a medium of deception where we began to behave more formal than real. Often I thought of leaving this field but presence of few friends had proved to be the magnet that kept the relationships alive. However, I feel this friendship is losing the verve and sincerity. I may take a sabbatical from social media and for those of my friends who want to know what does this word means – “In recent times, “sabbatical” has come to mean any extended absence in the career of an individual in order to achieve something. In the modern sense, one takes sabbatical typically to fulfill some goal, e.g., writing a book, need time to look into retrospect or travel extensively for research. Some universities and other institutional employers of scientists, physicians, and academics offer the opportunity to qualify for paid sabbatical as an employee benefit, called sabbatical leave. The concept of sabbatical originates in the Holy Bible.

An article of my colleague Sneha Pathak is forcing to go in that direction. Here are some excerpts of her thought provoking column:

Gone are the days when people write elaborate letters and wait for replies, or spend evening in a park or a coffee house talking to friends.

People are becoming increasingly more reserved for fear of being judged by a society where appearing happy on social media is more important than actually being happy. So ironically, the more some people share, less they share their real selves. Sometimes one needs to listen to people, understand their situations without judgment.

What a world we live in where we would rather post messages to random strangers than communicate about what is bothering us with our close friends.

It is easy to mask your emotions behind the bunch of fake ones.

What is the point of observing on social media if we don’t know what is going on in their life.

For a change, let’s try to be social in our real lives instead of the virtual world.

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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There is an authentic tradition (Hadees) of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that says: “As shuf fe bahar ebadah.” It is a benediction even to look at sea.

Having lived the best part of my life near the sea shores in Bombay and Middle East I am familiar with the sweet sounds of waves as they wash and splash the beaches and shores. It reminds the immense beauty and strengths of mother-nature. Just close your eyes and think of a river or a sea. The scenery that emerges at the mind screen removes half of your worries, puts you at ease and for a moment you forget all that is bothering you. Ask your relatives or friends what associations arise in their mind when they think the word “sea”? Never a negative response I’m sure! The water bodies cool the mind, inspire, placate and palliate. The shores and riparian tracts remind the words like freedom, serenity, relaxation, fun and beauty. These are the words which waft like music in this strained life. Even those who had never seen the sea always picture somewhere deep inside the special feelings about it.

Let me quote here a dialogue from the Hollywood movie “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” …. “You stand on the beach and taste the salty smell of the wind that comes from the ocean, and inside you feel the warmth of never ending freedom, and on your lips the bitter, tear-soaked kiss of you lover.”

There was a time when I would walk miles and miles along the Juhu Beach, Bombay as a bachelor and feel pity about my loneliness. I felt envy for the couples and families enjoying the brightness of the day at sea. To observe the high tide and majestic waves, standing at Mamallipuram sea coast at the outskirts of Madras, was a real delight. We all dream to lie on the beach at least for a while and listen to the sound of splashing waves and screams of sea-gulls. Did you ever notice that the sounds of waves come from afar, but the sounds of splashing water are close, near the stones, pebbles and golden sands.

Apart from the sea, rivers have always played an important role in human life. In religions around the globe, rivers are deified. Human race has made best to derive huge economic profits from exploiting the rivers and often devastating their natural riches. Water is the source of life. Flowing rivers are source and core element of many beautiful landscapes and natural sceneries, because they have unique ability to vivify the motionless pictures of nature. Furthermore, rivers form such natural phenomena, as waterfalls with their unrestrained power and unique beauty.

I’m blessed that my son has got a place near the river where I often walk down along its banks. It is so soothing to body and soul as the gentle wind caresses the face and scents of earth refresh like no other perfume. I hope and pray that our successors will, hopefully, make more efforts to save ponds, rivers and sea and help them regain their natural beauty, richness, and purity that our generation has so inadvertently destroyed. Let us remember that the calmness and tranquility of quiet rivers are divine.

Here is what an African poet Langston Hughes describes the river:

I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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“You’ll stay with me?’
Until the very end,’ said James.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

And those who have seen the twin magnum opus ‘Mere Mehboob’ an ‘Arzoo’ would have dreamed that about Sadhna Shivadasni Nayyar – the iconic actress on Hindi Cinema.

May be I’m poorly informed or may be I’ve missed the vision and imagination of a Ghazal Poet but I can’t remember any other Indian Film actress whose hair style was celebrated like Sadhna’s. She was one of the most popular heroines of yesteryear Bolywood, an actress who had reigned for many years, She passed away in Mumbai today, on December 25 after a brief illness. The actress was detected with a tumor and had been battling cancer for a very long time. In December 2014, the lady underwent an emergency surgery for a bleeding oral lesion. Sadhana breathed her last at a Mumbai hospital. She was 74.

The beautiful damsel had enthralled masses with her graceful performances in Hindi films in the 60s and 70s. Initially her father had helped her enter films. Her family had migrated from Karachi in 1947. In 1955, at the age of 15, she had played a chorus girl in the song “Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke” in Raj Kapoor’s ‘Shree 420’. She was cast her in India’s first Sindhi film titled Abaana (1958), where she played the role of Sheila Ramani’s ‘s younger sister and she was paid a token amount of 1 rupee. She had joined Mukherjee’s acting school along with her debutante co-star Joy Mukherjee.

Her trademark look, called Sadhana cut is said to be inspired from Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn. However, in one of her interview she revealed that she had a broad forehead and that was a bid odd in the eye of cameras. To hide that minor flaw, her hairdresser had advised her to cover it in order to appear it narrower with a tumbled cascade of trimmed tress – better known as Sadhna Cut or Style. Some say that it was R.K.Nayyar who had suggested the idea. That fringe style was originally sported by the Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn. The fringe soon became popular and a fashion fad in the 1960s. The style was copied by many girls in India. The Filmalaya Production banner had introduced Joy, Sadhana and her iconic hairstyle in their 1960 romantic film ‘Love in Simla.’ Sadhana had played the role of a simple, bespectacled girl who is transformed by her grandmother into a beautiful woman and encouraged to pursue the hero. During this period she again worked under the same banner opposite Joy in ‘Ek Musafir Ek Haseena.’ In 1961 she played against Dev Anand in ‘Hum Dono.’ It was a super hit.

A famous film journalist describe her beauty in these words: “Her eyes, expressive and captivating, do most of the work, while she balances out her submissiveness with a firm tongue.” In 1963, Sadhna acted in the technicolour film ‘Mere Mehboob’ directed by H.S.Rawail. It was a classical film and still known for the famous scene where Rajendra Kumar encounters her for the first time and sees her eyes through her Burqa at an auditorium of Aligarh Muslim University.

She got her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the role of Meena in Yash Chopra’s directorial saga ‘Waqt’ (1965). She stood out in Bollywood’s first ever ensemble cast by bringing along the fashion of tight chudidar-kurtas.

Sadhana married her ‘Love in Simla’ director Ram Krishna Nayyar on 7 March 1966. Their love had blossomed on the film sets. Her parents opposed it as the difference of age was telling. They were married for nearly thirty years, until his husband’s death in 1995 from asthma. The couple had no children.

​

Naim Naqvi

Did his graduation in Science discipline from AMU in 1972-73. He was Secretary of University Ali Society in 1970 and M.M. Hall Literary Society in early 70 's and member of Tayyabji Literary Society. Did his Diploma in Bakery Administration from HTT College Oxford Street London in 1987. Worked with National Herald - Delhi, Blitz - Bombay as Trainee Journalist and in Production Department with 'Naya Sansar Pictures' of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas at Bombay in early 70's. Traveled for study and training purposes to Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Dubai, Oman, AbuDhabi, Bahrain and Philepines.

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