GOOD BYE ARVIND GIGOO
"I am where I am not,
therefore, I am not where I am"...( Arvind Gigoo)
Arvind Gigoo is no more . How could that be true ? I didn't believe it when my friend I B Zutshi conveyed the sad news. I saw him on Monday , just two days back. He was certainly unwell and on medicines . He couldn't move and the laughter of Great Gigoo was absent. He spoke feebly .Agnishekhar and I were with him for about two hours . He was staying at Fortune Riviera with his wife and son Siddharth Gigoo. He arrived on Sunday and flew back on Wednesday to Delhi. He couldn't visit his house in this brief visit but expressed a desire to meet friends and well-wishers . Sarla Ji, his wife telephoned me and I informed Agnishekhar . Together, we went to see him. He shook hands and enquired the welfare of our familes in a feeble voice as his vocal cords were also hit by the neurological ailment. He had undergone prostrate surgery . He was diabetic. Getting up and walking was impossible for him. After every five minutes, he kept telling his wife to order tea which we firmly refused. Did he have premonition about what was going to happen ? Why did he desire to meet his friends ?
Arvind Gigoo was the sharpest observer of men and matters that I happened to befriend in my life. He spoke one language and that too fearlessly .No double talk. He was neither secular and never ever a communalist .He didn't practice spirituality or atheism. I didn't find him practicing rituals either . The terrorism in his native land had made him to leave his home and take refuge in Udhampur and finally Jammu . He wrote against the terrorists and their sympathisers in his unique style . He wrote against many short sighted and petty mainstream leaders . Exile had touched his soul yet he had retained his objectivity . Truth alone remained his tool.
In his essays ,stories and cameos, he was Manto reborn.His language and sentance construction matched V S Naipaul. At many places, I found his writing style coming close to P G Woodhouse. His humour was intense and apt. His observation was sharp and left nothing under the carpet. His scrutiny was more revealing than what is known as MRI in the medical parlance. He was mentor to many . He corrected the manuscripts of many books even when he had issues of eyesight . I don't think he ever refused to read and correct any manuscript brought to him. Manuscripts of my two books were read and corrected by him. He did some hobby art. I saw and wrote on his beautiful driftwood sculptures
Arvind Gigoo was a brilliant translator who brought new charm to the verses that he took up for translation. He did some brilliant translations of poems of Dina Nath Nadim,Arjun Dev Majboor, Maharaj Santoshi, Suneeta Raina Pandit , Agnishekhar, Kshama Kaul and some more poets.
Meeting him was a pleasure .Talking to him was a delight. In conversation, he enthralled and enthused his listeners . Himself, he was a great listener .He didn't keep age barriers. Like a true Mastana, he spoke what he felt and detested double talkers. His conceptual framework about art, literature, music and theatre was clear. He had scripted a short film that he wanted to shoot using Makhan Lal Saraf as lead actor. He narrated the brilliant script to me .Saraf suddenly fell ill. Then he himself was unwell. The project couldn't see the light of the day.
Arvind Gigoo wil be missed by those who knew the man . I will certainly miss him . With his departing, we are fast moving towards ," Aadam Qahat" or a drought in the field of fearless sparkling minds . My heartfelt condolences to his wife Sarla Ji and his family and friends. My sincere sympathies are for Siddharth Gigoo his brilliant son . Sadgati and Moksha to the soul that touched many hearts .
( Avtar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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