Shiv Sena Leader Anant Tare: Tributes To A Peoples’ Political Leader And A Personal Friend!

Again, a shocker. Unbelievable news that came at the most unexpected moment. It has happened to us several times in the recent two years—persons quite close to us die and we come to know about them months later. This time the occasion was a nice gathering of a few senior citizens under their Senior Citizens Club in Thane, Mumbai. A member of the Shiv Sena who attended the event not as a senior citizen as he was much younger informed me to my casual inquiry about the famous Shiv Sena leader Anant Tare that he has passed away about a year back. I was taken aback and was too shocked to ask more questions. Instead, I came down to the nearby lane and telephoned Tare’s personal associate Sunil. And to my horror he confirmed the news that Anant Tare had indeed passed away on 22^nd February 2021 at a private hospital in Thane. He was hospitalized for some illness in December and before the day he was to be discharged he had a brain stroke and later a hemorrhage. As the doctors prepared for a brain surgery, he was found to be COVID-19 positive. Afterward, he went into a coma for more than two months, and tragically passed away on that date without recovering.   

 

In my grief that clutched me suddenly I blamed Sunil for not informing us. He said that the times were too sadly hectic and that the news had been constantly flashed in the local news channels and the newspapers. Of course, that time newspapers were still not allowed in our Thane society, but we used to watch the local news channels quite regularly. How we missed such an important news, we don’t know. Perhaps it was the same divine wish that we should not know about it at a time when we were bogged down with personal issues, and then in March 2021 we left Mumbai for a few months, still not knowing the sad truth.

 

Anant Tare had been a prominent Shiv Sena leader and had been the Mayor of Thane Municipal Corporation three times in the nineties. In 2000 he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, and after serving a full term as an MLC Tare worked on as a Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena for Thane and Palghar districts. Anant Tare belonged to the Mahadev Koli community, and all his life he worked tirelessly for the betterment of the Koli community, the oldest fishing community or rather the aboriginals, listed now as a Scheduled tribe, of Mumbai and Thane. The beaches in Mumbai are being called ‘Koliwadas’, because the Koli fisherfolks live in hidden hutments along the seashore. Anant Tare had been their beloved leader—a leader who worked at the grassroots and always for the people. He was also a very religious person worshipping the traditional Koli Goddess Ekvira Devi among other deities and was the president of the Ekvira Devi Temple Trust at Lonavla. His office cum residential campus in Thane-West is truly a place of integration with temples of Goddesses of Amba and Ekvira and a Pir Baba dargah (Sufi place of worship).  

 

I knew Anant Tare since 2006 when I was posted in Doordarshan News in Mumbai. We became friends at the very first meeting, without any motivation behind—like that of exchanging favors or following a ‘give and take’ policy. He had visited our office on many occasions, sometimes just for meeting us or at times coming as a guest in the news or the program shows. His associate Sunil had also been a regular visitor bringing stories of the activities/events of Tare Saheb whom he referred always as ‘Dada’, and we used to include some of the stories displaying the energetic spirit of the lively Kolis. Anant Tare had given me and my wife the unique opportunity of attending a Koli festival in Mumbai, and we were stunned by their lively culture, folk dances and a rich cuisine of the sea fish varieties—I could not even count the number of fish delicacies offered. He has also been inviting us to visit the famous Ekvira Temple in Lonavla, but unfortunately that did not materialize, and now he is no more.

 

Our friendship continued naturally after I left Doordarshan Mumbai and even after I retired from service of the Government of India. We have often been in touch and the kindhearted religious peoples’ leader always helped us as best as he could in times of our personal crisis. While living in Thane after my retirement we visited his office several times and had darshan of the temples and the dargah. He always adjusted his busy schedule to be present during our visits. On an invitation from Sunil in October 2020 to come to Tare Saheb’s Navaratri celebration we went there and to our surprise Anant Tare was present there personally, waiting for us and to felicitate us—myself and my wife Ragini. That was an unforgettable moment, and that day of the 25^th of October 2020 turned out to be the last time we met him. Yes, at that time my wife had more plans of visiting Tare Saheb’s wonderful place.

 

We offer our tributes and homage, belated as for the reasons cited above, to a genuinely true leader and a true family friend. Our heartfelt condolences to his family of wife, a son and and a daughter along with all kin and associates. I always discussed politics of Maharashtra with him, but never went beyond that which he too understood very well. Our common subject of mutual respect had been the great Balasaheb Thackeray and all the Thackerays—Uddhav Thackeray (Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 2019 with a coalition government), his dynamic son cum minister Aaditya Thackeray, dissenting leader Raj Thackeray and all others in their families. Anant Tare started his career as a banker and soon joined politics, inspired by Balasaheb Thackeray. He was said to be among Balasaheb’s most trusted ones. In Anant Tare’s demise at an untimely 66, Maharashtra and the Shiv Sena have lost a great honest leader.

CDS General Bipin Rawat Dies In Chopper Crash: An Unthinkable National Tragedy, Our Salute!

This is unthinkable, even unpardonable. That the helicopter carrying the topmost military officer of India—the first ever Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) next only to the Supreme Commander of the India Army, the President of India—should crash in spite of the highest security being attached to the trip and the fool-proof technical checks being obviously carried out by the best of pilots before the trip. But it has happened still—a monumental national tragedy. CDS General Bipin Rawat, one of the bravest and the most decorated military officers of the country, had left his Delhi residence around 9 this morning and boarded a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft for Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu along with his wife and seven others including senior military officers and security commandos. Arriving at Sulur around 11.30 AM he boarded a Mi-17V5 helicopter, supposedly the most advanced one being manufactured and delivered to India between 2013-16 by the Republic of Russia, with five more members including the crew joining the flight, making the total passengers in the chopper 14. The chopper took off around 11.45 AM for the Wellington Defence Services Staff College, Tamil Nadu.  

 

Just five minutes away from the destination the chopper crashed in Coonoor amid the forests of the mountainous district of Nilgiris around 12.20 PM. As the area was almost inaccessible the first ones to come to know of the crash were the local tribals who alerted the police. A lot of time thus was wasted before the actual rescue operations began. As per the tribal eye-witnesses shown by some news channels the helicopter reportedly hit a tree amid heavy fog and burst into flames before hitting the ground. The Tamil Nadu government had confirmed 5 fatalities, 2 badly burnt passengers taken to military hospitals and rescue operations going on for the rest. The ANI (Asian News International) had confirmed 13 fatalities out of the 14 quoting sources, the victims being identified through the DNA testing. No information about the condition of General Bipin Rawat and his wife was available till the last reports came in.

 

In sad reality, it is hoping against hope for the safety of the top General. Matters about high officials always involve a protocol and nothing is confirmed or announced in a hurry. The Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, is the proper authority to make the final announcement after confirming fully with the Chief of the IAF. First, the Defence Minister briefed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi; then he consulted the IAF Chief who immediately rushed to the site of the tragic crash; and then the PM in consultation with the Defence Minister had called for a Cabinet meeting and a highest-level security session later in the evening. The Defence Minister then visited the residence of General Rawat in Delhi which was significant. The President of India, Ramnath Kovind, had also canceled his Mumbai event and rushed back to the capital. Dignitaries including the Army Chief and others have also been visiting the General’s residence. All these are pointers to an unthinkable tragedy.

 

The IAF has already ordered an inquiry into the crash. Many experts believe weather conditions have something to do with it. Tamil Nadu had witnessed unprecedented rains in the recent days and today it was reportedly very bad weather and heavy mist in the Coonoor hills. However, the emergency controls in the arguably most advanced chopper ever should have been able to maneuver and land safely, and the failure to do so with none other than the Chief of the military on board confounds one and all. The Defence Minister was to address the Parliament which is in session this evening, but it was then deferred to sometime tomorrow, possibly considering all aspects of a very sensitive incident involving national security and bilateral cum multilateral relations.

 

Unfortunately, over the last few decades we have been getting used to witness numerous chopper accidents involving various kinds of helicopters including the MIG and the Mi-Series types, most prominently; not only in India, but across various other countries too. Many dignitaries of the country including senior military officers, pilots, Chief Ministers, political leaders and others have either perished in those crashes or just survived. This leads us to question the very use of helicopters in modern times when other modes of air travel are easily available. Why not do away with helicopters for good?

 

The sad news has come. The IAF has confirmed just now that the brave General and Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat (1958-2021), his wife and 11 other officials have died in the crash. Our tributes and homage to all the martyrs, our condolences to the General's and other officers' families. The whole of India has been praying for the General’s safety. But God always has other plans. An irreparable loss for India. 

Dilip Kumar: The Legendary Hero Of The Classical Era Passes Away!

Another golden chapter of Hindi cinema has drawn to a close. Dilip Kumar, the legendary hero of the classical era traversing over six glorious decades of providing top-class entertainment to millions of fans the world over, has passed away at a Mumbai hospital today morning. He was admitted in the ICU on 30^th June due to a prolonged illness, and in fact, for the last more than a month he had been in and out of hospital with constant prayers from his loving wife Saira Banu, one of the most popular heroines of the classical era, family, friends and millions of fans for his recovery. However, finally the doyen of Hindi cinema bowed down to destiny and the will of God, calling it a day at the ripe age of 98, two years short of what could have been the most memorable occasions of Indian film industry. 

Dilip Kumar has always been a tremendous fighter, both in his films and in his great variety of roles as well as in personal life fighting serious health issues for several years. In 2013 he was admitted in a Mumbai hospital after a mild heart attack and was kept under observation for the next three days due to the ensuing Ganesha Festival with the final immersion coming up on 18^thSeptember. He was reportedly put under ventilation on the evening of 17^thSeptember as rumors of his passing away became almost viral. Finally, the heartthrob of millions won their hearts coming back home victorious. Dilip Kumar celebrated his 90^th birthday in December 2012, but his health has been indifferent from around the second week of September, 2011.

With Vyjayanthimala

We have been acquainted with the screen image of Dilip Kumar (1922-2021) since our birth and have always loved him like the simple man next door, and got awed by his sad and melancholic looks. He was down to earth in most of his roles and seemed to have lived all the roles he played. This is hardly to overlook his image as the romantic hero of the Hindi cinema's classical era and we found him paired with almost all the leading ladies, particularly Vyjayanthimala with whom he danced around the bushes too and was paired the maximum number of times. Apart from being entertained by him in many later movies like Ram Aur Shyam or Gopi we always held him in great esteem and respect. His movie songs mostly rendered by Mohammed
Rafi are evergreen numbers even for the new generation.

With Amitabh Bachchan

It is for his true-to-life performances that the Indian legendary film director Satyajit Ray described him as the perfect ‘method’ actor of Indian Cinema. Superstar of the millennium Amitabh Bachchan has described him as the greatest actor ever.

Dilip Kumar debuted in 1944 with a movie Jwar Bhata and tasted box office success in his very next film. He earned a breakthrough role in Andaz (1949) where he starred alongside Raj Kapoor and Nargis in a love triangle. While his movies in the early fifties earned him the title of ‘Tragedy King’ many other movies also established his romantic or historic or even comic image. His Mughal-e-Azam(1960) was a landmark historical film and held the record of being the biggest Bollywood grosser till 2008. 

In the seventies his career suffered a temporary setback with several films not doing that well and he took a five-year break from movies in 1976. However, he returned with renewed vigor in Kranti (1981) where he played a character role and that marked the beginning of his equally successful stint as a character actor. Though cast as a character actor his roles in most films were often pivotal dominating the full plot and for our generation movies like Shakti (1982--with Amitabh Bachchan) and Mashaal (1984--with Anil Kapoor) still remain as the most remembered. He continued acting till his last screen appearance in 1998. However with his heroine-wife Saira Banu he was always seen in celebrity events and interviews.

With Saira Banu

For his tremendous and lasting contribution to Indian Cinema the Government of India honored him with Padmabhushanin 1991 and the supreme cine-honor Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994. He was the first ever recipient of the Filmfare Best Actor award in 1954 for his film Daagand he shared his record of the maximum number of Filmfare awards only with Shahrukh Khan of modern Bollywood. He was also immensely popular in Pakistan and the Government of Pakistan honored him with the highest civil award Nishan-e-Imtiazin 1997. 

We salute the legend and pray for the eternal bliss of his noble soul. Dilip Kumar will remain our hearts forever.