Article by Gulzar after the demise of R D Burman
Kaushik Bandyopadhyay
Two persons were involved with almost each and every moments of laughing-weeping,joy-sensitiveness,love-sorrow and shame-pride of my life.I walked miles of my way depending only on their broad shoulders in various ups and downs in the Bollywood.I couldn’t think of making films without these two.Yet how easily they left me.Haribhai I mean Sanjeev kumar has already deceited .During a few past years,I was managing that shock slowly and at that time only,Pancham passed away leaving me simply alone.Telling only that Pancham was my very intimate friend will not be sufficient to describe the real relationship between us.From the time of 50’s,when none of us started our carrier meaningfully,Pancham was my companion in happiness and sorrow.At that time he was working in some films as music assistant of SD saheb.He used to break and create so many dreamwaves…tunes and musics of different streams…different films…thinking in a newer way…our hour-after-hour time used to be spent in discussing these.Within that time I fully recognized the creative mind of Pancham.I also used to get the heat of the blazing fire of the confidence,urge and insistence to create something in a very self-style and self-thinking coming out breaking the tradition.Very often I used to think that if I,Sanjeev and Pancham had scope to work jointly,we would make everyone astounded.Still now when I look back, I recall those days only.By the side of much condensed agony inside heart,some prides also stand raising head…and this pride is all for my dearest friends.On going to make films perhaps I committed so many mistakes…many carelessness, inattentiveness and foolishness did give impression on my works.But Pancham and Sanjeev were unparallel.Totally flawless…their works were like machines…nobody can find out error out of them.We used to add life to life more closely through more works,more thoughts and more new creations .Perhaps Pancham liked a new song suddenly…a new Gujrati folk tune…or a glimpse of a Jazz…immediately he phoned me,”Come on just now…braught a new thing..not getting peace without making you listen.” Pancham used to do like this like a child.
Almost everyday we shared conversation on telephone. Receiving his phone call was so much like a habit that after not getting his call for one or two days my heart used to become restless. Whenever I used to think about to take informations about Pancham,my telephone used to ring and on receiving, that knowned voice from the other side, ”What happened to you? There’s no trace about you…in my side, my chillie-trees had so much chillies…I have to send those to you…why are you not communicating”…he used to talk spontaneously like this..I was basically the listener…in the midst I used to remark somehow…dispute used to start and the hobnob used to become captivated..now on staring to that telephone like a dead person, a throatful weeping as if are getting up with a heavy load of many reminiscences..
In these days, the talks I had to share about Pancham, I didn’t have told so much about him in the last 30-35 years also…So, inspite of Pancham not being there, there is a scope of sharing his stories, reminiscences and the agony of missing him with all of you…but the waves of these stories also will be settled down in a time. There will not be a scope of interchanging sorrows. Then only me and so many reminiscences of Pancham surrounding me. I’m startling to think about those days only. That surely will be a great void. With which I’ll fill up that void? My last words with him was also in that telephone only. On 31st Dec midnight, there was a party on the occasion of the publishing of my Poetry Collection’s English translation. I told Rahul, ”Come on, we’ll enjoy very much’. Now-a-days his health condition was not going well. Still he uproared, ”Well, I’ll surely come…it can’t happen that your book is being published and I’m not attending”. But, he didn’t come! I’ll write more poems, perhaps I’ll make more films also, but I’ll not have that my great sensible friend again to tell me ‘Very well done’ by hugging me with a tremendous passion….no,never…. (End)
