You ask me to write a tribute to Saeed Jaffery, Himanshu Gupta, even though you’re totally aware of the injustice I’ll wreak upon that fine actor’s versatility; that I’ll make just a passing mention of the flamboyant Suri saab from Masoom; that Kunj Mausa will be but a mere reference; that there'll be an attempt to forego Gandhi altogether; why, I’ll even keep Mir Roshan Ali confined to the sidelines (with full knowledge of the fact that in your esteemed view – and in that of Satyajit Ray and Resident sahib – ऐसा करना दानिशमंदी नहीं होगी) And yet, I’ll not succumb to the pressure of painting a complete picture. Why, you ask? Well partly because I know that if the affable Mr Jaffery were alive, he would forgive my omissions, quite in the manner that he forgave Sanjeev Kumar's (आपने इतनी शतरंज की बाज़ियाँ हमसे जीतीं और हमने कभी चूँ तक ना करी, और आज हम एक बाज़ी क्या जीत गए....). But as I said, that’s just part of the reason. The plain truth is that we (both you and I) are simply incapable of looking beyond Lallan Miyan. Of course , our myopia isn’t helped any by that disproportionate bias which we hold for Chashme Buddoor( I say ‘disproportionate’ not to undervalue Sai Paranjpe’s genius, but to account for the Delhi that she depicts; the Delhi we’ve over the years come to ‘assume’ as the Delhi of our college years). And Lallan Miyan, needless to say, is an integral part of that Delhi and that Chashme Buddoor. Hell! I can’t even recount how many of his dialogues we've appropriated into our day-to-day jargon. There are those which we use in the original context because age has brought with it a certain amount of stoicism (पर ख़ुश रहो! ख़ुश रहो क्यूँकि बिनके इरादे नेक हैं); and then there are those which are employed out-of-context because that stoicism which age has brought isn’t quite adequate (और क़सम इस बीती जवानी की, इस दिल ने भी एक ठंडी सी आह भरली). And who can forget Lallan miyan’s ‘ये देख!’ – the way he gleams as he shows-off his recently acquired corny-looking lamp(Is it me or did Uttam really use that phrase when he was showing us his president’s medal for gallantry?) Bur mere dialogues do not define the domain of Lallan Miyan. I recall the time from college when one of my misdemeanours had spiralled out of control and made its way into public knowledge. Chhotu, our custom-bike riding colourful dhobi, had come up to me and offered ‘चिंता मत करना झा साहब। ज़रूरत पड़ी तो आपके लिए जान लड़ा देंगे'. So earnest, so outrageous, and so Lallan Miyan–like was that offer that I’d not been offended by the unsolicited assistance. I’d in fact smiled back to him with a ‘चिंता की कोई बात नहीं छोटू। और हाँ, ज़रूरत पड़ने पर तुम्हारी जान बक़ायदा ली जाएगी’ और देखिए! आज लल्लन मियाँ की जान सचमुच जाती रही। खुदा आपकी रूह को सुकून बक्शे ज़ाफरी साहब. You’ve brought much joy in many a life. And as Oscar Wilde says somewhere in de Profundis, men have gone to heaven for smaller things than that.
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