My dear Dutt Sahab,
It was your death anniversary
(I still have to learn how to associate you with death)and a crowd of some great moments I spent with you came rushing back to me . And at the end of spending some time with them, I went into a mood I can not describe, but I knew I was thinking of what you would have done in these troubled times after knowing you as the panther who was never scared of any calamity or crisis and loved how you loved to face them and fight them head on ...
I remembered the time when you took me to the red light area in South Bombay (better known as Pilla House)on "rakshabandhan" day ,the day on which you never failed to visit your "sisters "who look forward to your visit. It was one of my most heart-warming scenes to see you being surrounded by all those women who were otherwise looked down upon by the so called high society and the "bhadralok ".I saw the happiness on the faces of those "sisters "which lit up their faces which looked radiant perhaps after long time the hellish lives they were forced(?) to live because of cruel circumstances. I love the way they clamoured to see who would tie their rakhis round your wrist first and how you presented them with gifts and garlands and left only after you had tea with them. I don't think there has been any man who has changed the atmosphere and the lives of those sisters like you had done.I saw you as a human being more than the Sunil Dutt you were for me till then.
I remembered the time when you took me to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital and how every patient who was dying or was being treated and even the doctors, nurses, ward boys and the visitors looked up at you as if you had come to save them and give them and their families hope in the midst of despair and death.I was slowly getting to know you as an amazing and extraordinary human being...
The country was reeling under another crisis and you were facing your own serious problems because of your son,Sanjay but you had to send your MLAS and corprators on a march throw the Lokhndwala Market to collect clothes, utensils and whatever the people wanted to give. Till around 5.pm,the people refused to show any enthusiasm in giving anything to your leaders. One of your MLAS asked me to call you and inform you about the situation. I called an you asked me, "Ali,mera aana zaroori hai kiya ?"And you were their within fifteen minutes driving your own car(I had heard you telling me how you drove from Pali to the Airport and back in just seven minutes).Your entry in Lokhndwala Market brought a new life and within one hour there were truck loads of clothes and other items of utility value ready to leave Lokhndwala Market. What all your MLAS and corporators couldn't do in six hours,you had done in less than an hour. If that was not a sign of what you were and what you stood for, I still don't know after so many years what is . You were a Messiah all the way ...
And even when my mind is full of you,I am reminded of a young, dynamic, daring and dedicated Indian whose name is Sonu Sood...
Should I tell you about the misery your dear country and my country is going through during the last three months ? There is a dangerous worm who has been playing havoc with the world and is taking vicarious pleasure in wrecking the fabric of your beloved country.And if you see how thousands of migrants,mazdoor and their families are walking back to their villages, you will vividly remember the plight of the refugees during the partition of which you were a first hand witness and to a large extent even a part of .These poor people of India are still walking on the roads to a dark and bleak future and neither the central government nor the governments in the states are showing any signs of their having any humanity left in them. Their trains are reaching all the wrong destinations.A Chief Minister who calls himself a Yogi plays dirty politics with these Mazdoors and sends back a thousand buses sent to his state to help these migrants, a clear case of the politics of vendetta. And such cases of inhumanity are growing rampant and reaching a point of no return...
I miss you during these times when politicians are growing more vicious than the worm ....
This is a time when we needed givers more than takers.
A time when be needed more of selfless people than selfish idiots and bigots,a time when we need Indians who care for Indians and not Indians who are only interested in harming Indians in every corner of India. And even as I am thinking on these lines, I must hasten to assure you that India and Indians have been lucky and even blessed to find the young man it needed and his name is Sonu Sood...
Sonu Sood , dear Dutt Sahab, is an actor who is not a star or as big as the Khans ,The Kumars and the Devgns, but what he has been doing in the last three weeks has made him a Messiah among the poorest of the poor in the country. He is doing what the government at the center, the government in the states and no men with all the power and all the money (and with no hearts)have not been able to do. For the masses who are heading home, Sonu Sood is nothing less than a God-sent man or God himself. They are busy thinking of ways of thanking him in their ways, in a place called Silva in Odisha, people are even planning to build a statute in his honour. There is a section of people which is even appealing to the government to honour him with the Bharat Ratna.There is a half- baked director who has hit on a brain-wave (O, these selfish and silly men who wait for any opportunity to take advantage of)and an actor who is supposed to be very close to the powers above have also sent hints to the new Messiah that they would like to make a film about him.
And the amazing grace of the young actor who has sent thousands of people back to their villages, who has provided them with food and water kits for their journey ,who has donated one thousand five hundred PPE kits to the doctors fighting war against the Virus in Punjab and who has given his hotels for use of the medical staff fighting the war, is entirely unaware and doesn't even seem to be interested in what he will gain,but is still on the streets with his team trying to help as many migrants as possible. He has made his mobile number public for anyone in need to reach him. He answers every call and replies to every Twitter. The only interest he has know is to help as many Indians in trouble as possible. Tell me, Dutt Sahab, what do I or anyone say about a young man like this actor who was best known for his roles as a villain in films ?
I hope and pray that Sonu Sood succeeds in his mission to save an doesn't fall a prey to the wicked and wily ways of sinister politicians and other vested interests.
My dear Dutt Sahab,
The last time I asked you for a favour was when I sought your help to get a road named after my guru ,K.A.Abbas and you readily agreed and fulfilled my request. Now, I know you are not here, but I also know that you are very much here and so I ask you to bless Sonu Sood and even hand over the title of the Messiah which belonged to you to Sonu who I like millions of other Indians feels he is today. And besides doing all the good work he is doing for the people, he has even expressed his genuine feelings about what he feels about the difficult times we are all living in.
SUNEGE AAP, DUTT SAHAB, TO SUNIYE ,AAPKO YAKEEEN HOGA KI YE AAPKA ,MERA AUR HUM SABKA DESH ABHI BHI BHAVISHYA KO ASHA SE DEKH SAKTE HAI ,KYUNKI DESH KE BARE MEIN SOCHNE WALA EK AISA YUVA HAI JO AUR BOHOT SAARE YUVAAON KO APNE SATH LEKAR CHAL SAKTA HAI AAGE...
Maana ki ghani raat hai, Iss raat se ladne ke liye, pura Bharat ek sath hai...
Teri koshish meri koshish rang layegi, fir ussi bheed ka hissa hongey, bas sirf kuch he dino ki baat hai...
Maana ki ghani raat hai, magar pura Bharat ek sath hai."
PS there are others from the industry Sonu Sood belongs to whose conscience has been stirred up by what Sonu Sood is doing and have come out to help the cause to which Sonu has dedicated his life, his money, his hotels and all that has made the Sonu Sood he is. But,Sonu will always be recognized and respected by history as the original Messiah (second only to you, dear Dutt sahab)
Salaam Sonu Sahab desh ke gareebon ki taraf se or mere Messiah Dutt Sahab ki taraf se.....
Your ardent disciple and your follower till the end
Ali Peter John
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