Tales of Two Cities.

Chapter 5

Celebrated novelist Charles Dickens wrote a monumental novel 'Tale of Two Cities'. It describes the life, competition and cultures of London and Paris. Inspired by that, I am tempted to compare the two great cities Delhi and Bombay.

I was born in the old city of Delhi soon after Independence. As one grew up, fascinating stories were heard about the business capital of India, Bombay. But was best known for the pull of Bollywood. The city of glamour and gossip. I had a lurking desire of going to Bombay. I did there a couple of times but only as a tourist. The overpowering presence of Arabian sea put it on a different map. But there was much more than that.

Before that, let's have a closer look at Delhi. The seat of political power. Rashtrapati Bhawan, parliament, prime minister, head quarters of political parties, citadel of academics called the JNU, National Museum, National Gallery of Modern Arts, Archives of India. In fact, Delhi has a penchant of naming everything as national. As if elsewhere, it is all anti national.

Power comes from money and the central government holds the strings of cash. It makes union budget, allocate funds and there is Planning Commission, now renamed as Niti Aayog which oversees the expenditure and revenue. It is easy to approach the government sources and get funds released e.g. the UGC (University Grants Commission grants funds to 100 odd universities and the NCERT directs the direction of the school education.

However, what makes Delhi important is its history. It has been the capital of India since Delhi Sultanate in the last millennium. The British architect Lutyns created the DIZ ( Delhi Imperial Zone) area, popularly known as the light yellow shaded official and residential complexes heavily guarded by the security. It included the PM's residence as well. Though now the nouveau riche business class has put the officialese in the pale shadow but the tussle remains.

Coming back to the character of Delhi, it is called a cosmopolitan town, the global city. It is because people of more than a hundred nationalities live here. It is on account of diplomats and the multinational executives. But its soul still lies on the two sides of the historical town Chandni Chowk. It has a significant presence of Muslims that has given a composite identity. In the present debate on tolerance, there is a palpitable unease but nothing on the surface.

The predominant  culture is Punjabi brought here after the mass exodus from across the border after the partition. They were called refugees for long but not anymore. Ironically, there is a settlement in Lajpat Nagar where the Punjabi widows and their children still live in a pocket.  Delhi is surrounded by Haryana on three sides lending a visible influence of Haryani dialect. They belong to landlord peasantry and thrive on rental income. Thus Delhi doesn't have a language of its own. Even South Indians also have a large presence. They have settled here after retiring from government jobs. All these have affected the food culture of Delhi. Now bhatura and dosa are its staple diets besides, of course, pizzas and pastas.

Delhi's young generation is quite conscious of its educational needs. It has resulted into a mushroom teaching industry through coaching and distance learning. Delhi has always attracted people from the rest of the country, especially UP and Bihar. A roiugh estimate says that around 5000 people deboard trains and buses every day and never to take a ride back. It is resulting into an unwieldy growth in its population. It has affected the accommodation facilities and rising prices. Christians and their churchrches have a formidable visibility. But all communities a small sprinkling of even Jews and Parsis with their akoori and synagogue as well the burial grounds adjacent to each other in Khan market.

Let's shift to Mumbai which is still called Bombay by old timers. When I went there in 1979 as the editor of a monthly magazine Super, I didn't know where I was landing. Though its owner Rajiv Gokhale gave me an inspiring briefing. I still remember that editing is nothing but word pressing. My office was at 421, Embassy Center, Nariman P{oint next to Taj and Oberoi. A tempting address and I got a PG accommodation at Perry Cross Road near Otters Club in Bandra west. Its Parsee landlandy Coomi Warden was a noble soul and she looked after me like a family member. I picked up Gujarati through the Gujarati daily Jame Jamshed.I started by taking a cab but soon shifted to local trains. It was an ordeal to begin with but soon I got used to it.

The magazine had been deserted by its previous staff headed by my high profile editor Rauf Ahmed and his staff that included names like Bhawna Smayya and Pinki Virani. But I picked up my own team of Malvinder Grewal, ace photographer Pradeeep Chandra, T.R.Gopalakrishnan * now the editor the Week for many decades, Feroza, Naaz Hasan. The only legacy, I inherited was Lucy lewis, the sweet and tiny Christian secretary who turned out to be my best bet. She knew it all and helped me to step into the new shoes.

I had migrated from India Toady where I was a political correspondent with no hang of film journalism. I tried to learn on the job. Called Dev Anand who was my childhood favourite and asked for an interview. He made my day saying, he knew me and my byline in India Today. I put him on the cover. The next cover was Pataudi and Sharmila with a tagline The Survivors. I had inherited a running popular magazine of Rauf but I decided to change it into a serious film magazine. When I met Vinod Mehta, the then editor of Debonair for a courtesy call, he advised me not to change its character. But I stuck to my guns and paid a heavy price as I returned to Delhi after seven days and seven month. In between I also edited Take 2 broadsheet weekly co-edited by Amit Khanna and with a complimentary association of Sharmila. Her signed editorials were there.

I was in competition with Shobha De of Star Dust, Rauf Ahmed who was now editing Movie, a new magazine and Karanjia's Cine Blitz, edited by his daughter. I wrote a signed piece that I had come to Bombay to change who is sleeping with whom journalism. De met me in a party and she also advised not to try reinvent the wheel. But it was fun. I chose celebrities like Ameen Sayani, Khawaja Ahmed Abbas, Pran,  K.K.Shukla as my subject. I was supposed to attend cocktail parties. But I didn't want to waste my evenings and sleep. When Shobha asked why, I said, there were better things to do in the night, then holding glass and gossip. I became a subject of grapevine but I didn't care.

I sent a request to Big B for an interview. His prompt reply came saying, he was off media. It was his decision after De and others had called him Angry old man. .

But would give me the first interview, once he changed his mind. And he did give in a couple of years later. He even asked me to fly down to Bombay to interview him on the sets of Khuda Gawah when he was having trouble with Bofors and Rajiv Gandhi. I also hired Ameena Abdullah, the femme fatal of Delhi journalism. she tried to pep up the magazine but Rajiv decided to convert it into a weekly. His argument was that, four issues will multiply ads four times. It didn't happen. The magazine folded up. I got a son at Breach Candy and brought him back to Delhi to start again was the editor of Caravan, my familiar domain.