Bollywood for a ride!

Summer vacations, there was a different meaning to it when I was in school, and now. Then we ( my brother and I ) used to expect our parents to take us out of town for vacation. Now being a parent even before Divita expected we decided to take her on a vacation to Dalhousie, a calm, serene and not too commercialized hill station. And if you are thinking that I am going to write a travelogue here, then you are wrong. Rather I want all of you to meet someone whom I met there. He is Sanju , a locale resident and a famous taxi-driver there. He owns a SUV-Innova, mind you there are just 4 Innovas in Dalhousie.

As we (group of three couples and our little gal) seated ourselves in Sanju's car, like inquisitive tourists we started seeking info about which places we can visit in the serene hill -station.( as if we have not done our homework on Google). But still there was a strange urge to know some great virgin spots.

And that one question instigated Sanju to speak his heart out. He mentioned Kala Top , a wildlife sanctuary which we should really visit as ( if he is to be believed ) we would never want to come back from there. Sanju elaborated that we could hear the birds chirping, smell of the dense forest , the earth and all sorts of animal voices amidst pleasant weather. As the adrenaline started pumping , there came a statement from Sanhu ji. He said."par aap wahan jaa nahi sakte". Phew...then why the hell he even mentioned Kala Top. We surely got the answer by the time we reached the Flower Valley. And you guys would also get it while reading.

"Wahan wo Ranveer Singh aaya hai, shooting chal rahi hai aur teen(3rd July) ko mujhe Sonakshi ko lene jana hai, wo bhi aa rahi hai", Sanju added purposely. Till he mentioned Ranveer it was OK but the moment Miss Sinha crept  into the conversation, there ware strange sighs but surely very common whenever there is a mention of Bollywood divas, started floating in the car. Ganesh sitting next to him even offered to leave his job in a software company in Delhi and asked if he could join Sanju's team. All this for the Dabangg girl! So to fuel the fire I asked Sanju, "how does she look like in real?" After listening to the star driver's reply I couldn't control laughing loud. He said " woh to 500 rupaye main jo naachne wali hoti hai na waisi dikhti hai, bas itna hi fark hai, ki wo heroine ban gayi aur ab lakho kamati hai."

The 'honest' statement triggered more questions. One of us asked Sanju, "aur kis-kis hero-heroine ko dekha hai" and here goes the list dictated by him--- Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, Jacky Shroff, Amrish Puri, Shilpa Shetty and Bachchan bahu-- Aishwarya Rai.

Much impressed by the newest mommy of Bollywood, Shilpa Shetty, Sanju said she is the most down to earth actress he had ever met. He even asserted that Shilpa is the only actress who looks as beautiful in real as she looks on-screen. But another new mom in the tinsel town failed to impress him post-pregnancy. Yes, for Ash he has no soft corner, "wo to itni moti ho gayi hai, pehle hi sahi lagthi thi ", Sanjay added.

Then there was another actress, whom he even refused to drive off. She is Manisha Koirala. If Sanju is to be believed then Manisha is a drunkard. She visited Dalhousie for the shooting of Dil Se along with Shah Rukh. No driver in the entire hill station was ready to drive her. But Sanju took the challenge . He elaborated that he picked her up in the morning from the hotel. Along with her vanity kit and costumes another heavy box was also kept in the boot of his car. She shot for the entire day and after the pack up she asked Sanju to take out that heavy metal box. Finally the cat was out of the box, Any guesses what was it? Let Sanju tell you, " bar tha ji chalta-phirta, desi , angreezi daru, wine, whisky , vodka, kuch bhi le lo. Phir usne mangawaye 2 glass aur ek peg mera bhi bana diya. Maine to 3 peg lagaye phir mana kar diya, gaadi bhi to chalani thi, marna thodi tha aur Manisha to saare raaste peeti rahi. Hotel pahunchte pahunchte wo full-tight ho chuki thi .Uski secretary bhaagti hui aayi pocha madam kahan hai, maine bola ye padi hai talli, utha le isko. Iss ke baad to maine bhi decide kar liya ki main Manisha ki driveri nahi karunga. Kaun jayega iske saath pila-pila ke bigaad de gi mujhe bhi." 

So, Sanju is a man of conscious. He praised bad man late Amrish Puri for his good nature and kind  heartedness while Jaggu dada aka Jacky Shroff for his  friendly nature. " Amrish Puri ji se maine poocha ap to ichne achche aadmi ho to phir filmo mein ganda kam kyun karte ho, chalo wahi kaam milta hoga bechare ko.........aur Jaggu dada to bahut badiya banda hai, apne film walo ko chodke bidu hum driver logon ke saath hi rehta tha, " added Sanju.

The purpose behind Sanju mentioning Kala Top, even though we, tourists have no access to the place was well-served by now. He had burped out all his Bollywood connections over us. Amazingly after his entire Ramayan, Sanju said people here in Dalhousie remains candid to the presence of these so called stars in the valley." Kutto (dogs) ki tarah ghoomte hain , ye log yahan par, koi nahi bhagta autograph ya photograph lene ke liye," he said.

And during my stay there even I felt it, that people here are happy and content with whatever they have and where ever they are in life. Unlike we rat-racers they have no so-called great ambitions in life. As that driver said,  " bas zarooratein poori hoone chahiye"  and sadly our 'zarooratein' are so huge and so many that we would never be able  to live a content life, I thought, while  uploading the lovely pictures of the trip on FB.