By Z.G.Muhammad
Time ticked by, I no more felt lonely in the maddening crowds of Bombay. I no more saw everything around me, grey–tasteless and colourless. My distressing feelings: ‘I had nothing to contribute; I played no part; I was on edge had vaporized- soothing and freshening sea breezes had a lot to do in it.’ Now, I loved the vivacity and vibrancy of the city in all its seasons, shades and colours. It was opening up to me. Unlike many others, who feared the monsoons for clogging roads, wading through knee-deep waters and evening rush hours, the child in me waited for torrents of showers, the lightings and thunders- a natures light and sound show. A walk on the marine drive in a heavy downpour and a cup of hot coffee in an open-air restaurant near the hanging garden. It had its thrill and romance and was as inspirational as the seaside shed where T.S. Eliot wrote Part III of the Wasteland. At the onset of monsoon, most friends from my birth burg, like many others from our land after doing excellent business and clearing their stocks, departed from the city to enjoy back home salubrious and sylvan environs. They were leaving behind only those who owned shops in the tourist circuits of the metropolitan, shopping malls, and five-star hotels. Once the leaves of Chinars back at home turned to rust, many of them returned to the metropolis with news stocks of merchandise and new resolutions; they worked hard and doubled their business. They started their day in wee hours and returned after dusk after fixing appointments with potential buyers. They had made me realize that we were not only people with deft hands, gifted with a honeyed tongue but also robust enough to make a maximum fortune out of minimum opportunities. Those who had done exceptionally well in the metropolitan and made fortunes in the city were also good philanthropists.
My stint in the city enabled me to know dealers of Kashmir art, our ambassadors in this film Nagari. Many of them had a reputation for their integrity and commitment to humanity. It also revealed that the city of dreams did not have all dark sides; Pila house, contraband markets, gangsters, and the underworld, but it also had the other side- a humane side. Ironically, there were stories about some top underworld dons of the seventies and eighties doing welfare work- Robin Hood way. Those were the days when advanced medical facilities like kidney transplants and open heart surgery were unavailable, even in New Delhi. Many patients with severe ailments for advanced surgery visited various hospitals. Some prominent Kashmir handicrafts traders and officers of Jammu and Kashmir posted across multiple state departments altruistically worked as social workers to help the needy. The names of two officers and good human beings live in my memory; Jawaharlal Manavati and Nisar Hussain fervently helped the patients, got them appointments with doctors, and conducted them to the hospitals. Some philanthropist top businessmen often helped the patients falling short of money during treatment. As the principal representative office of the state, the Trade Agency was called had no allocations for helping the troubled patients. I remember some businessmen on a phone call pooled their contribution for helping the needy patients.
In Bombay, when Shiv Sena was confined to Shivaji Park, and Dutta Samant, popularly called doctor sahib, reigned supreme on the streets of Bombay, some top doctors had a love for Kashmir and Kashmiris. Dr L H Hiranandani an internationally known Otorhinolaryngologist (ENT), was one of them. The 1917 born doctor was a friend of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. He treated patients from the state on priority and free. I once conducted him a judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and a minister in the Farooq Abdullah government for treatment. He did not even charge them for consultation and treatment. I told this elderly doctor, who always a simile on his face, these two patients are not poor; they can pay. He replied they were not going to pay from their pockets. They will bill the state, and your condition is poor. Dr Parulkar, a cardiologist of great repute, also treated patients from Kashmir with no charges.
Z.G.Muhammad is a noted writer and columnist
