BALRAJ SAHNI ,GULMARG , DAL LAKE( SRINAGAR ) , POET MEHJOOR AND USHA KASHYAP KHANNA

 

 

 

 

                                                                      

   

                                ( Usha Kashyap Khanna with Jaya Bhaduri at Samovar , Mumbai )

                                                      ( The brothers ; Balraj and Bhisham )

                                                              ( Balraj Sahni )

                                              ( Usha Kashyap and Harbans Khanna in Kashmir  )

BALRAJ SAHNI ,GULMARG , DAL LAKE( SRINAGAR ) , POET MEHJOOR  AND USHA KASHYAP KHANNA .

 

Parikshit Sahni , the noted actor and son of Balraj Sahni has this to say about his father :-

“Kashmir, especially Gulmarg, remains forever associated with him. I truly believe that his soul dwells there and it is there that I feel most connected with him. The lakes, the mountains, the very air speak to me whenever I go there, which is seldom now, but even memories of the place are enough to evoke a sense of his presence around me. Whenever Dad went to Gulmarg, the poor and bedraggled pony owners (the pony being the main mode of transport in Gulmarg) flocked to meet him. He knew each of them by name. He listened to their problems and distributed money among them. He did the same with the Shikara-walas on the Dal Lake. And they in turn considered him their own. For Dad, Srinagar mainly meant the Dal Lake and the Mughal Gardens that dotted the banks of the lake; this was where he headed whenever he was in Srinagar. Blessed with incredible stamina, he would swim from one end of the Dal Lake to the other, from Gagribal Point to the Shalimar Gardens, a distance of almost three miles, while a Shikara always coasted alongside him.As usual, he swam at a slow and graceful crawl, with his swimming trunks around his neck. I often swam with him, but I could never keep up with him. It took me hours to swim from one end of the lake to the other! The Shikara that followed Dad usually carried a picnic basket with a bottle of beer, some food and a thermos flask of hot tea. After the swim, he would offer the Shikara-wala a cup of hot tea and some food from the picnic basket, paying him handsomely, and chat amicably with him. He did the same with the houseboat owners on the Jhelum and the Dal Lake. Such simple pleasures gave him unalloyed joy as no amount of wealth or fame ever could.”

 

Padama-shri Pran Kishore Kaul has this to say :-

 

“ Balraj Sahni belonged to a family that owned a house in Wazir Bagh locality of Srinagar. He could easily understand Kashmiri language .He was a lover of Mehjoor’s poetry and quite often he had expressed a desire to make a documentary film on the poet’s life. G M Sadiq was also his close friend. And when Sadiq became CM, Balraj put all pressure for the movie. He arranged the producer and offered his accommodation in Mumbai for the project . He helped us personally in writing the screenplay . He arranged as well as pooled funds from his own sources for the completion of the film. He was close to Kaifi Sahib and at his insistence , Kaifi Sahib wrote some songs for the film. Prem Dhawan was arranged by him as music composer . He asked his son Parikshit to come back from Russia to act in the movie .He was a true lover of Kashmir . “

                                         

And not many of us know that Usha Khanna ( nee Kashyap) daughter of Balraj Sahni’s sister joined Women’s Militia in Kashmir to fight against Pakistan sponsored Tribal Raiders in October 1947. Usha was well known to G M Sadiq , D P Dhar ,Poet Nadim , Pran Kishore , Krishna Misri , Som Nath Zutshi ,BPL Bedi , Freda Bedi , Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah , Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad and many leaders from Kashmir. She was also associated with the Cultural Front. Rajbans Khanna, her husband also played an active role in Kashmir during the turbulent days of 1947. Rajbans was a friend of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. He had been with the Communist Party of India in Lahore and then Kashmir, went on to make films in Bombay, but maintained his relationship with Kashmir, making several documentaries including 'The Story of Kashmir' and 'The Rivers Will Not Forget'. He also produced and directed ' Jeevan Sangram', a 1974 Bollywood movie. Rajbans also directed the film 'Gotama The Buddha'. Usha Khanna owned the famous SAMOVAR restaurant in Mumbai.

 

( Avtar Mota )

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