Hrishida – another jewel lost

Another person, I adored, admired and respected has gone out of the world.

It was 1982; At 9 pm, My then colleague, Sudhir Kulkarni and I were waiting outside Bandra clinic of Late Dr. Ashok Tulpule- cardiologist when I saw a man wearing loose khadi Kurta and cotton pyjama briskly walked out of his consulting room.

My reaction was instant, “that’s Hrishikesh Mukherjee”.
Sudhir’s reaction was “You must be kidding”.
As soon as, we entered Dr Tulpule’s room, we confirmed he was indeed Hrishida. Sudhir was surprised that a man of such a fame in so ordinary attire. I felt happy as I could see the man who I admired most.

Those were the days, when I would relate to every personality associated with the movie that influenced me. And Hrishida did make a big impact throughout my school and college days with Chupke Chupke , Golmal, Mili, Guddi, Bawarchee, Anupama, Namak Haram, Bemissal, Buddha Mil Gaya, Khubsoorat, Satyakam, Ashirwad, Abhiman.

Now that he is gone, the above incident came to my memory alongwith his memorable movies that had quintessential Indian ness with abundance of humour woven around human traits.

Satyapriya – a protagonist in Satyakam remain forever embedded in me and unlikely would go away till my last breath. If I ever stayed away from indulging in corrupt practices that prevail in the medical world, it’s mainly because – a part of Satyapriya is in my soul. I wish, I had the same self belief and conviction to emulate Satyapriya in my early life when my goals of securing academic, professional, parental and societal acceptance relegated the means that I practised to get those goals. Would there ever be another ‘Satyapriya’? Who knows, one day it may happen.

Till then or otherwise , Hrishida with characters of Satyapriya, Naren, Babu Moshai, Vicky, Ram Prasad Sharma and Jijjaji would remain forever close to my heart.