DEV
ANAND’S EARLY YEARS IN THE MAJHA REGION OF THE PUNJAB
(BORN
1923 – DIED 2011)
Harjap Singh Aujla
We
are all saddened by the passing away of Dev Anand in London on
Sunday December 4, 2011. An achiever all his life, he lived his
life to the fullest. He was the king of romance and he succeeded
in all his attempted romances. Being an exceptionally handsome
man, ladies prided themselves in loving him and he always relished
his unprecedented successes in his romances.
Dev Anand was an icon in Indian film industry. Born in September of 1923 in a small village called Gharota in Gurdaspur, a district headquarter town in the then Lahore Division of undivided Province of Punjab. In the recent past he was in his late eighties, but was still going strong and healthy. He had never put on a pound of excessive weight. Perhaps that is why he has lasted hale and hearty this long without any serious health problems. He has been a “Casanova” for over half a century. Even in recent years, he had several admirers amongst the young female film goers. During his hey days, from late forties to late sixties, he was a rage amongst the women and most of his films did very well, due to his pleasant personality and a unique style of acting and dialogue delivery.
A Bazar in Amritsar
Dev
Anand’s early life revolved around the town of Gurdaspur and the
cities of Amritsar and
Lahore and for short durations he stayed in the beautiful hill
stations of Dalhousie in Gurdaspur district and Dharamsala in
Kangra district of united Punjab. He hailed from a well to do
family originally of a small village Gharota. The family later on
settled down in Gurdaspur twenty miles away. Dev Anand’s mother
was a pious, loving, caring, dignified and deeply religious lady.
She meant well for all her children, but Dev was special even for
her. His father was a leading lawyer of Gurdaspur, who wanted to
give first grade education to all his children. Dev Anand’s
father had attained an uncommon command over Persian and Arabic
languages. At times he used to recite from the Islamic scriptures
and explained their meaning to illiterate Muslims of the area. At
other times he used to narrate chaste Urdu poetry to the members
of his own family.
Dev
Anand’s autobiography “Romancing
with life” appears to be a very honest portrayal of the man
called Dev Anand. This article is composed on the basis of
revelations recorded in his life story. Being a very shy boy in
his childhood, Dev’s father put him up in a girl’s school in
Gurdaspur. It is obvious that Dev had a very captivating face. It
is no wonder that the girls were infatuated by his charm. He was
like a toy at least to some of them. One such bold girl was
As
he started growing, he became more and more curious about knowing
the sex appeal of a female. In his childhood, Dev had never seen
the beautifully crafted splendour of a fully grown woman. One day
Dev Anand and his childhood friend Bhagoo (a short for perhaps
Bhagwant Singh) were peeping through a window. A growing girl in
the neighbourhood was looking at her newly developed elegance in a
mirror hanging from a wall. She lifted her shirt up to look at her
magnificently developing shape. Soon she realized that her privacy
was being violated by some stranger. She suddenly pushed her shirt
down and saw Dev and Bhagoo stealing her glimpse. She immediately
shut the window and after a while she opened a little bit of it.
To her utter surprise, both Dev Anand and Bhagoo were still
watching her. Then she shut the window permanently. Both friends
were embarrassed by their action, but there was no let up in their
curiosity.
During
summer vacations in the schools, Dev’ Anand’s father used to
rent a small cottage owned by an Englishman Mr. Robinson at a
hilltop in Dalhousie, a very captivating hill-station in Gurdaspur
district. Dev Anand was enrolled during the summers in a famous
Sacred Heart Convent School in Dalhousie, set among some highly
picturesque surroundings. He used to walk to the school by the
“Thandi Sarak” and return by “Garam Sarak”. Both roads had
tall and majestic pines on either side. For sometime Dev studied
in Dharamsala, another hill-station in neighboring Kangra district
of the then Jalandhar division of undivided-Punjab. Dev and fellow
students used to go on hiking trips in the hills. One day, while
hiking, they were caught in a snowstorm. They had to spend the
night huddled together in a dilapidated room with a rusty tin roof
and no arrangement for heating. The night was spent shivering. The
students came out of the room the next morning when the sun shine
re-appeared. Lost in his thoughts, Dev and some friends were
chasing an imaginary beautiful dame of the hills. Suddenly one
pretty girl came out of her house with her luscious hair flying in
the hilly breeze and Dev fantasized that she was the beauty about
whom every one was curious. She vanished quickly behind her tiny
cottage. Dev lured a Scottish tourist also into the search for
that eluding beautiful girl of the hills. The scot lent his
binoculars to Dev. Both were trying to have a glimpse of the
beauty.
As
a child Dev was fond of playing with marbles on the street outside
his house. He was an excellent marksman from any distance. He was
always sure of hitting every marble that he aimed for. Due to his
marksmanship, he had won several marbles and stored those in a big
jar, which was his proud possession. His father hated him for
playing all day with marbles. Dev was afraid of his father. One
day his father admonished him for playing with the marbles all the
time. He said that this was not the way to attain stature in life.
But Dev loved his mother very much.
While
Dev was still in school in Gurdaspur, his mother developed
Tuberculosis, a fatal disease during those days. The rare
medicines necessary for her treatment were unavailable in
Gurdaspur. Dev and friend Bhagoo used to go to
Government College Lahore
Dev
was enrolled in Government College Lahore for his graduation,
which he did with honours in English. But soon he discovered that
his father had fallen on bad days. Dev wanted to go to
During
his early teens, Dev Anand wanted to explore the wide world of
filmdom in Bombay, where due to his captivating personality, he
could rule the hearts and minds of millions of film goers in
India. While in the Government College Lahore, Dev was fascinated
by the unique architectural beauty of this great temple of
learning. The fire of romance kindled by a female class-fellow’s
extraordinary beauty was burning in his heart. But Dev could not
muster enough courage to express his feelings to the girl.
The
girl of his dreams was a white skinned dame very impeccably
dressed mostly in a “Saree”. The girl had beautifully chiseled
features. Her name was Usha Chopra. She was the daughter of a
professor in the college. Her mother was an English woman. She
inherited the best features of her both parents. She was quiet and
studious, always the first to take her seat on the front desk. Dev
Anand sitting in a row behind her was secretly in love with her,
but was too shy to express his inner sentiments. One day prior to
his intended departure for Bombay, Dev Anand went to the office of
Principal Dickinson to get his character certificate. The young
beauty, closest to his heart, was standing in a corridor
affectionately waiting for him. On seeing Dev Anand, she asked
“Are you enrolling for master’s here”. Dev reluctantly said
no. She was taken aback. Eventually Usha Chopra frankly expressed
her liking for him and tried to persuade him to stay on in the
college. Dev Anand was triumphantly happy to hear what his ears
always longed to hear, but his shyness of childhood days always
came between him and his love. Dev Anand went to his room. Washed
his face and looked at it in the mirror. He was wondering to
discover that his face was presentable enough to conquer the girl
he loved. But it was already too late for him and her both. Dev
Anand had big plans for his future in
While
in Lahore Dev Anand was never financially well off. After
purchasing his third class train ticket to Bombay, Dev was left
with only thirty rupees in his pocket. He boarded the Frontier
Mail traveling between
Suraiya
His
first real love even in Bombay was with a superstar Punjabi
actress singer Suraiya, which due to the religious differences did
not culminate into marriage. Dev Anand, after initial hiccups,
made it big in Bombay. Virtually every young beauty in the film
city liked him. Some loved him passionately, others were his
silent admirers. Dev lived his life to the fullest. His movies
with Madhubala, Suraiya, Geeta Bali, Kalpana Kartik, Nutan and
Waheeda Rehman became big hits. He had great luck with much
younger actresses too.
Without
Dev Anand, India’s film industry will never be the same. May his
soul rest in peace in heaven.