I wonder how many of my former colleagues and those who joined Air-India after I left, saw and read the booklet “Foolishly Yours” which was the brainchild of Mr. S.K. Kooka, our first Commercial Director.  This booklet was placed in every seat pocket of our aircraft.

The booklet spoke and described in a humorous manner the service on board the airline and poked fun at both the passengers and the airline staff.  As an example, there was a cartoon showing the Maharajah embracing a passenger upon deplaning and collecting the cutlery from the passenger’s pockets that he, the passenger, was attempting to take away.

Mr. Kooka did not even spare the Chairman when he wrote that all passengers should check the seat backs and pockets to ensure that they did not leave behind any valuables.  He went on to hint that the Patek Philippe watch that the Chairman was wearing may have been left behind by a passenger.

This particular and rather expensive watch has always held a particular fascination for me, but the price was way beyond my reach and it was an unbelievable surprise when on a visit to Florida last week, my younger son, Sarat, presented me with one.  Sarat’s company had recently undergone a restructuring and he became Co-Managing Partner.  To commemorate this event, he had purchased the watch for me.  I wear it with great pride and joy.

Speaking of purloining cutlery from airlines, I had, in my bachelor days, decided to collect a piece of cutlery from every airline that I traveled on and it was not too long before, our bachelor pad at “A” Road in Churchgate had a complete set of cutlery for 8 persons.  However, not one piece matched another.  Needless to state, this collection remained in the apartment when I moved out after getting married, as was our tradition.

In one of my earlier Blogs, I have spoken about my very dear and close friend Yash Johar, a well known and established film producer.  In my career with Air-India but mainly after I had reached the top of the Commercial Department, I had the good fortune of meeting and getting to know, a few other film personalities, including Waheeda Rehman, Sanjay Khan and my screen idol, Nargis.

Sanjay Khan came to see me when he was planning to produce Sona Chandi on the island of Mauritius.  He wanted a number of free tickets and also free carriage of baggage and equipment.  In return for publicity, we agreed to some of his requirements with regard to free tickets and also rebated (but not free) carriage of cargo.  He invited me and my wife to dinner at his home but failed to mention that his guest of honor was Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam, the Prime Minister of Mauritius.

When introducing me to the P.M. he requested the latter to try and convince me to give him additional free tickets and free carriage of baggage and cargo.  The P.M. first told Sanjay that not only did he know me, but that I had been his guest at a Mauritian Parliamentary session, followed by lunch.  He then told him that he would not take advantage of this relationship to make any such request.

Sanjay took this in his stride and we soon became good friends although he would remind me of my “stinginess” whenever we happened to meet in the future.

I was present at the Centaur Hotel at Bombay airport when Sanjay negotiated the deal to produce the film Tipu Sultan by purchasing the rights from Bhagwan Gidwani who was the author.  I had known Bhagwan for many years - first when he was DG - Tourism and later when he took over as the DGCA.  Bhagwan insisted that I witness the negotiation and signing the rights over to Sanjay and I could not resisting getting my own back at Sanjay when I stated that he had “swindled” Bhagwan as the amount of money that changed hands was a pittance.

We had a good meeting followed by lunch.  Sanjay did produce this movie a few years after I had left India, but I was saddened to learn that he had an accident at the sets. 

My meeting with Nargis had nothing to do with the film industry.  One morning, my Secretary informed me that a Mrs. Dutt would like to call on me and I agreed to meet her the next day.  Imagine my surprise when Aban, our receptionist walked into my office and announced with great flair, that my visitor was none other than the Queen of the Silver Screen.

Nargis was accompanied by another lady who was introduced as the President of the Spastics Society and that she (Nargis) was its Chief Patron.  The President of the Society gave me a short presentation and its need to generate funds for its working and then asked if it was, at all possible, for Air-India to assist the Society.  She mentioned that it had come to her attention that AI sent out UNICEF Christmas and New Year cards and Nargis enquired if we could purchase a small quantity from the Spastic Society.

I replied in the affirmative and promptly spoke on the intercom with Jal Cowasjee, our Publicity Manager.  Jal told me that our annual purchase was 10,000 cards and I told him that we should henceforth take 50% from the Spastics Society and that I was requesting their president to meet with him and finalise the purchase.  Not being privy to what Jal had told me on the intercom, Nargis enquired how many cards would 50% represent and was overjoyed to learn that we would buy 5,000 cards from the Society.

Both she and the President left my office in a very happy mood and I, in turn, spent the rest of the day wondering how I would describe this meeting to my wife.

A couple to days later, I received a call from Nargis inviting us to dinner at her residence in Bandra which I accepted with alacrity.  Nargis greeted us with great warmth and introduced us to her husband, Sunil Dutt. I mentioned that I had met him many, many years ago and when he asked me to elaborate, I told him the following:

The year was 1959 and I was living with my cousin Ravi Sawhney and his family on Altamount Road.  On the salary of an Asst. Station Superintendent, there was no way that I could live independently.  

One weekend, the door bell rang and I went to answer it.  A very personable young man asked if he could meet my cousin and I said sure and asked for his name.  He answered “Balraj”.  I  escorted him to the living room and then went to tell my cousin that he had a visitor named Balraj.  I retired to my bedroom and a while later heard them talk and laugh.  After a while, the visitor left and my cousin came to my bedroom and enquired “how come you did not recognize him”?  

I said that he looked familiar but that I could not place him and the name did not ring any bell.  My cousin said that the gentleman was indeed none other than the film star Sunil Dutt and that Balraj was his given name.  My cousin went on to state that Balraj’s family and our families were well known to each other prior to Partition when we lived in what is now Pakistan.

When I related this incident to Sunil Dutt, he enveloped me in a big hug stating that I was a long lost cousin, second or third removed. It did not take very long for Manju and me to develop a close friendship with Nargis and Sunil and we did meet quite often.

It is interesting to note here that their son, Sanjay Dutt’s middle name is “Balraj”.

Quite soon thereafter, Nargis and Khushwant Singh, the editor of the Illustrated Weekly were nominated Members of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Murli Deora who was then the Mayor Of Bombay threw a Reception to celebrate this event.  We received an invitation to attend and since I had met and got to know the Mayor quite well, accepted the invite but asked if I could bring a house guest; a request that was granted.  Brij Mehra, our Sales Manager, US West Coast was visiting and staying with us.  Brij and I go back many decades to our college days and in fact, I was instrumental in his joining Air-India.

At the reception, when Nargis and Sunil arrived, Nargis was almost mobbed by her admirers and well wishers.  Sunil, upon seeing me, came over and greeted me with a big hug, lifting me off my feet in the process.  Brij saw this and asked me how come I was on such friendly terms with Sunil.  I gave him a brief background but he did not appear convinced.  “Ask him for dinner at your apartment on the coming Saturday” said Brij and so, I spoke to Sunil.  He said that he would consult “Bhabhi” which was how I addressed Nargis and came back confirming the dinner.

I invited a couple of other common friends and we had a very enlightening evening.  Sunil got so involved in the discussions that one guest wondered who was the real MP - Nargis or Sunil.  Little did we realize that Sunil would soon embark on his own political journey, becoming first the Sheriff of Bombay; then a Member of parliament and eventually a Cabinet Minister.

It was with a very heavy heart that we learnt that Nargis had developed cancer and this coincided with my leaving Air-India and joining Kuwait Airways.  I was in the USA at that time and we visited Nargis at Sloan Kettering hospital in NYC.  She greeted us and jokingly asked if she and Sunil should now travel on KU instead of AI.  Sadly, she never recovered and soon hereafter, passed away.

Our friendship with Sunil continued and we were guests at Sanjay Dutt’s wedding.  After Nargis passed away, Sunil set up the Nargis Dutt Foundation in the USA which still exists and contributes to cancer cure in India.  We held a small and intimate dinner at our house in Tenably, New Jersey on the occasion of the first Fund Raiser of the Foundation in New York.

Subsequently, and after Sunil Dutt’s death, some events took place here in the USA regarding some personalities involved and my wife and I discontinued our participation in the Foundation.

Before ending this Blog, I must relate an amusing incident which took place when my wife and I returned to our apartment on Pedder Road after an evening out with friends.  In line with  our practice, we hadn’t taken our house keys and rang the bell and the door was opened by our cook/housekeeper.  Unlike all previous occasions, this time she stood in the doorway barring our entry; looked directly at me and accusingly asked “why has Asha Parekh sent you flowers?”

I was non plussed as I did not recall ever meeting this famous actress and confessed that I had no clue.  I promised to check the next morning and after receiving this assurance, we were allowed to enter our apartment.  Next day, I asked Anil Kadam, my Executive Assistant and he told me that Asha Parekh had recently traveled to Europe and one of her staff had asked for special handling which he had arranged.  The gift of flowers must have been a token of her gratitude.

I mentioned this to our cook/housekeeper who accepted this explanation, but did not appear quite happy.  I have to add that she always took a very paternal attitude towards us and our children and even when my wife went out on occasions when I was out of station, she said to her on departure “call me when you get to your destination”.