Neelam told me nothing
about Raj Kishor for a long time.
But we both were
pertinent to the other's thoughts.
Whatever she thought,
I used to know and
whatever I used to think
she would know.
This quiet transit continued till
many days.
One day director Kripalani
was watching the rehearsal
We were all in the music room.
Neelam, sitting on a chair
was giving a round-up with jumble
of her feet.
The song was boring,
but the tune was good.
When the rehearsal was over,
Raj Kishor entered the room with a
Khadi bag on his shoulder.
He adored director Kripalani, Music Director Ghosh,
Sound Ricardist P A N Moga,
all in English.
With folded hands said
namaskar to heroine Miss Eidan Bai.
His eyes saw Neelam,
who was scorched in a chair near pyano.
His hands stood up
to greet her.
Suddenly Neelam stood up on seeing this.
"Sir!
Don't ask me sister".
Neelam has said this in a way that
everybody in the music room
was taken aback.
Raj Kishor became a bit ashamed
and could only say,
"Why?"
Neelam got out without answering.
When I reached
Shyam Lal Panwadi shop in Nagpada,
there was a stir of this incident.
Shyam Lal was speaking in a big accent.
"Her own mind would have been muddy.
Otherwise if Raj Bhai
calls anyone sister, and she feels bad is impossible.
Her wishes will
never be fulfilled.
Raj Bhai is a man with strong nappies.
I was fed up with
Raj Bhai's nappy.
But I said nothing to Shyam Lal,
sat quietly, and kept listening
to him and his customer friends,
which had more of false statements
and not the truth.
Everyone in the studio knew about
this incident of the music room.
The issue was discussion for
three days was,
why Raj Kishor refused to
tell Miss Neelam a sister.
I did not hear anything about
Raj Kishor's announcement, but
one of his friends told me that
he mentioned this incident in his diary
and prayed that the eyes and mind of
Miss Neelam should be cleaned.
Neelam had become more sensitive
than ever before
and the buttons of kurta of Raj Kishor
were now open every time,
from which black hair of his
white and raised chest stood out.
Since rain had subsided for one or two days,
the director pasted the schedule of
shooting on the notice board.
These scenes which were to be taken now,
were between Neelam and Raj Kishor.
Since it was myself who
wrote these scenes,
I knew that Raj Kishor will kiss
the hand of Neelam while talking.
There was no room for kissing in this scene.
But to provoke the emotions of the people,
usually women are dressed
in clothes that will
harass people,
so director Kripalani
kept this scene of kissing
according to old rules.
When the shooting started
I was present there
with a throbbing heart.
Thinking about what would happen
to both Raj Kishor and Neelam,
I had sensational thoughts
in my mind.
But all the scenes were completed,
and nothing happened.
In the evening when climax was shot,
Raj Kishor caught Neelam's hand
in a big romantic style,
but after peeling back to the camera,
he kissed his own hand cleanly
and moved away.
I thought that Neelam would take a
hand on Raj Kishor's face
and would scream in such a way
that the ears of sound recordist
P A N Mohha would burst out.
On the contrary,
I saw a smile on the
thin lips of Neelam.
I was
absolutely disappointed.
But I did not mention it to Neelam.
Two-three days passed and even
she did not say anything to me about this.
I concluded that she
did not know about the ambiguity of
kissing her hand.
Rather, it should be said that
it did not come to her hollow mind,
and the reason could only be that,
at that time she was listening to Raj,
who was habituated to say sister to any woman,
but was pronouncing romantic words.
Instead of kissing Neelam's hand,
why did Raj Kishor kiss his own hand?
Did he take revenge?
Did he try to
insult her?
Many such questions were born in my mind
but no answer was found.
The next day when I went to
Shyam Lal's shop in Nagpada,
he said to me in a complaining tone.
"Manto sahab,
you did not tell us anything about your company.
You do not want to tell or
you do not know anything?
Do you know what,
Raj Bhai did?"
After this he started the story in his own style,
that there was a scene in
"Ban Ki Sundari"
in which director Sahib
ordered Raj Bhai to
kiss Miss Neelam's mouth.
But sir,
where is Raj bhai and where she
... huh
Raj Bhai immediately said,
Sir, I will never do such a thing.
I have my wife.
After kissing this dirty woman's mouth
how can I get my lips with
my wife's holy lips?
So, immediately
the director had to change the scene
and Raj Bhai was told ok,
do not kiss the lips,
but kiss her hand.
But Raj Sahab
did not even play pills.
At the shooting time
he kissed his own hand
with the purity that the viewers
knew that he had kissed
the hand of that vamp".
I did not
mention this buzz with Neelam.
It was of no use
when she was unaware of
all this news.
Malaria is common in Bombay.
Do not remember the month and date.
Only thing remember that
it was fifth set of "Ban ki Sundari"
and it was raining non stop
that Neelam suddenly got ill.
Since I had no work in the studio,
I used to sit around
her for hours.
Malaria had created a
strange kind of pain
in the flurry of her face.
In the corners of her eyes and
thin lips which used to be
unmistakable, they now had a
glimpse of a well-known helplessness.
Her health weakened
with Kunain's vaccines.
She had to make her voice
higher to murmur.
Perhaps she thought that
my ears have become worse.
One day when her fever
had gone away,
she was thanking to
Eidan Bai from her bed.
Sound of horn of motor was heard.
I saw that Neelam was
shattering by listening to this voice.
After a while,
the door opened
and Raj Kishor entered laded in
white khaki kurta and tight pajama
with his wife.
He greeted Eidan Bai by calling her Eidan Sister.
Shake hands with me
and introduced his wife Shanti,
who was a lady with sharp features.
Then he sat on
the bed of Neelam.
For some time he just smiled.
Then he looked towards the sick Neelam
I saw for the first time
some strange emotions in his eyes.
I did not even fully understand that
he started saying in shaky voice.
"It was intended for many days
that I should come here,
but the engine of my motor
was in such a bad shape that for
ten days it was lying in the garage.
When it came today I said instantly
that let's get up this time.
Somebody else will do the kitchen work.
It is also festival of Raksha Bandhan today.
Will ask goodness of Neelam sister and
she will also tie Rakhi on my wrist.
Saying this, he pulled a
silk-blower gajra from
pocket of his khadi kurta.
Neelam's face
became darker.
Raj Kishor deliberately
did not see Neelam.
He said to Eidan Bai.
"But not in such way.
This is time of happiness,
sister will not tie rakhi with ill looks.
Shanti, Just get up.
Apply her lipstick.
Where is the makeup box"?
Neelam's makeup box was
lying on the mantle piece.
Raj Kishor took a few long steps
and brought it.
Neelam
was silent.
Her thin lips were scorched,
as if the squeaks
are stopping hard.
When Shanti arose and
tried make up on Neelam,
she did not do any harm.
Eidan Bai helped her to raise,
who was like a lifeless corpse
and when Shanti started
applying lipstick on her lips,
she smiled looking at me.
This smile of Neelam
was a silent squeak.
I thought... No, no,
I was certain that something would happen.
The swollen lips of Neelam
will burst with a bang, and
in the same way, the mountainous drains
break through a huge strong dam,
like the beats of the Divine,
in some similar
way Neelam
will flow all of us
in the stormy
stream of emotions.
But it is surprising
that she was completely silent.
The pain of her face
remained hidden in the
make up and she was
sitting like a stone statue.
In the end, when
the make-up was complete,
she shrugged off Raj Kishor
with an eminently strong tone.
"Bring your wrist! Let me tie Rakhi".
Gajra with silk blisters
was tied in the wrist of Raj Kishor
and Neelam, whose hands
should have been trembling,
was tying thread with great ease.
During this period,
I saw a glimpse of shrewdness on
Raj Kishor's washed eyes,
which immediately turned into a laugh.
Raj Kishor gave a few rupees to Neelam
according to the ritual in an envelope
which she thanked and placed under her pillow.
When they went away,
I and Neelam were left alone,
then he put a winked eye on me
and laid in a silence
on the pillow.
Raj Kishor
forgot his bag
on the bed.
When Neelam saw it,
she slipped aside from her leg.
After that, I continued reading the newspaper
sitting around her for about two hours.
When she did not talk, I left quietly.
Raj Kishor's bag, in which
he used to carry his diary all the time,
carries a secret.
What was the secret I'll tell you next week.
Right now, like, subscribe and share this channel
and wait for next week
for the last part of story-
Mera Naam Radha Hai.
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