AN EVENING WITH DWARKANATH SANZGIRI
One of the many paradoxes life throws at you as a Maharashtrian living in the larger Mumbai area is the alienation from the literature of your own mother tongue. Of course, that can be largely overcome if you have studied in Marathi medium or have parents who possess an amazing love for the written word. While my parents did read a lot and inculcate in me the love of reading, the fact that I have studied in English school all my life, and the fact of not being close to my grandparents, and being the product of an inter-linguistic marriage (very proud of that BTW) meant that my knowledge of Marathi writers is rather limited, and I'm more likely to appreciate Mark Twain or Hemingway rather than VaPu and PuLa. However, a few literary giants did create an impression on the rather limited corner of my mind that is all things Marathi - notably P.L Deshpande.
One of the new names however that is beginning to create a space for itself in recent times is that of Mr. Dwarkanath Sanzgiri - an established commentator (not in the verbal sense) on a lot of matters, writing for many Marathi periodicals and dailies, and being rather famous for his writings on Cricket and Bollywood. Of course, these are 2 subjects that are very dear to the heart of every Mumbaikar and any definition of Mumbai would be incomplete without the love for either of these. And it is thanks to social media that makes Marathi content readily available that in earlier days would either be accessible only on account of habit or environment (I have access to neither), that I have been able to know and appreciate Mr. Sanzgiri. So, when I received a Whatsapp message from my cousin (a very renowned member of the Marathi community in Dubai) that Mr. Sanzgiri was in town and would meet up with a like-minded audience for a general session, I jumped at the chance to go.
A modest gathering of around 25 people was present to hear Mr. Sanzgiri's talk and it certainly was a very informative and lively chat. We began with an informal introduction session followed by a photo session - to which he gladly obliged and got down to talk. It was quite a revelation to know that this well connected, well read and full-of-anecdotes on Bollywood and cricket was actually a Chief Engineer (Civil) with the BMC, who turned into a full-time writer, thanks to his love for all things good in life India - viz. Bollywood and Cricket !! With a few light-hearted talk and banter, we settled down to the main theme of the day - i.e. more light talk and general knowledge on Cricket and Bollywood.
We began with discussing the most recent happenings in Cricket - and the reason why he was in town - i.e. Asia Cup and naturally the talk turned to the how the final went down with India winning the cup off the last ball in the final - a leg bye, which was inglorious in Mr. Sanzgiri's eyes, to say the least. However, any talk of Bangladesh turning the corner and becoming serious world Cup contenders was immediately shot down - and with stark logical comments !!! Talk turned to a comparison between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as captains - and one could not avoid their batting comparisons. He explained the key difference - in talents and outlooks between the 2 players - and the inevitable comparison with Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar as a topic can never be far from everyone's minds, especially for a generation of those who have seen him in his full flow as a batsman. Mr. Sanzgiri touched upon the many aspects of Sachin's career - right from his debut days to the glory days of the 1990s, his body struggles in early 2000's (when he struggled to lift a cup of tea even ) and how he overcame all of those to regain his stature. Sachin's hunger and attitude, his middle-class bearing (including an incident with his Mercedes) and his overall bearing whose roots still run deep in the values that his father instilled in him. There was also an incident with a rather well-known brand of liquor and its connection with Sachin's resurrection as a batsman in the mid-2000's. Talk also turned to how history-deficient today's cricketers are - including an anecdote in South Africa where most of Indian cricket team players were sadly unaware of a place's connection to the Indian freedom struggle. And how a former fast bowler was confused between Ranjit Singhji and WG Grace !!
The talk turned to Bollywood (on demand from the Ladies in the group ) and Mr. Sanzgiri discussed how a particular community of Maharashtrians (small though it might be - and of which I'm a proud member of) has given an inordinate number of beautiful leading ladies to Bollywood. He spoke of how deeply Dev Anand was in love with himself and how it cost him his later career, his love affair with Suraiya and his go with the flow attitude, his incredible zest for life and the only 2 times he really cried in his life. He also mentioned how Dev Anand was responsible (inadvertently) for Amitabh's growth as a superstar, his connection with Mehmood and reasons for the subsequent split. He mentioned in his own experience as to how Amitabh is punctual and disciplined to a fault. The facets of Amitabh's personality, including his head in the clouds attitude in the early part of his career, and how his experiences made him humbler and his insecurities were a revelation to many of us - and was enthralling !!
All in all - it was a great evening, interacting with a person as knowledgeable and well experienced as him. But more important was how well he interacted with us and made us feel - not as an audience, but as friends who were having a chat with someone who has seen more of life than the rest. There were no airs, no attitudes, and definitely no know-it-allisms that speakers are so well known to throw about. It was a free-wheeling discussion - with people free to share their own stories as well. There are a few performers I would pay to go and see in live performance and the list is not long. On this late Saturday evening, as the temperatures began cooling post the desert sunset, sitting the cool comforts of a community hall, I have quietly added 1 more name to the list !!
One of the new names however that is beginning to create a space for itself in recent times is that of Mr. Dwarkanath Sanzgiri - an established commentator (not in the verbal sense) on a lot of matters, writing for many Marathi periodicals and dailies, and being rather famous for his writings on Cricket and Bollywood. Of course, these are 2 subjects that are very dear to the heart of every Mumbaikar and any definition of Mumbai would be incomplete without the love for either of these. And it is thanks to social media that makes Marathi content readily available that in earlier days would either be accessible only on account of habit or environment (I have access to neither), that I have been able to know and appreciate Mr. Sanzgiri. So, when I received a Whatsapp message from my cousin (a very renowned member of the Marathi community in Dubai) that Mr. Sanzgiri was in town and would meet up with a like-minded audience for a general session, I jumped at the chance to go.
A modest gathering of around 25 people was present to hear Mr. Sanzgiri's talk and it certainly was a very informative and lively chat. We began with an informal introduction session followed by a photo session - to which he gladly obliged and got down to talk. It was quite a revelation to know that this well connected, well read and full-of-anecdotes on Bollywood and cricket was actually a Chief Engineer (Civil) with the BMC, who turned into a full-time writer, thanks to his love for all things good in life India - viz. Bollywood and Cricket !! With a few light-hearted talk and banter, we settled down to the main theme of the day - i.e. more light talk and general knowledge on Cricket and Bollywood.
We began with discussing the most recent happenings in Cricket - and the reason why he was in town - i.e. Asia Cup and naturally the talk turned to the how the final went down with India winning the cup off the last ball in the final - a leg bye, which was inglorious in Mr. Sanzgiri's eyes, to say the least. However, any talk of Bangladesh turning the corner and becoming serious world Cup contenders was immediately shot down - and with stark logical comments !!! Talk turned to a comparison between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as captains - and one could not avoid their batting comparisons. He explained the key difference - in talents and outlooks between the 2 players - and the inevitable comparison with Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar as a topic can never be far from everyone's minds, especially for a generation of those who have seen him in his full flow as a batsman. Mr. Sanzgiri touched upon the many aspects of Sachin's career - right from his debut days to the glory days of the 1990s, his body struggles in early 2000's (when he struggled to lift a cup of tea even ) and how he overcame all of those to regain his stature. Sachin's hunger and attitude, his middle-class bearing (including an incident with his Mercedes) and his overall bearing whose roots still run deep in the values that his father instilled in him. There was also an incident with a rather well-known brand of liquor and its connection with Sachin's resurrection as a batsman in the mid-2000's. Talk also turned to how history-deficient today's cricketers are - including an anecdote in South Africa where most of Indian cricket team players were sadly unaware of a place's connection to the Indian freedom struggle. And how a former fast bowler was confused between Ranjit Singhji and WG Grace !!
The talk turned to Bollywood (on demand from the Ladies in the group ) and Mr. Sanzgiri discussed how a particular community of Maharashtrians (small though it might be - and of which I'm a proud member of) has given an inordinate number of beautiful leading ladies to Bollywood. He spoke of how deeply Dev Anand was in love with himself and how it cost him his later career, his love affair with Suraiya and his go with the flow attitude, his incredible zest for life and the only 2 times he really cried in his life. He also mentioned how Dev Anand was responsible (inadvertently) for Amitabh's growth as a superstar, his connection with Mehmood and reasons for the subsequent split. He mentioned in his own experience as to how Amitabh is punctual and disciplined to a fault. The facets of Amitabh's personality, including his head in the clouds attitude in the early part of his career, and how his experiences made him humbler and his insecurities were a revelation to many of us - and was enthralling !!
All in all - it was a great evening, interacting with a person as knowledgeable and well experienced as him. But more important was how well he interacted with us and made us feel - not as an audience, but as friends who were having a chat with someone who has seen more of life than the rest. There were no airs, no attitudes, and definitely no know-it-allisms that speakers are so well known to throw about. It was a free-wheeling discussion - with people free to share their own stories as well. There are a few performers I would pay to go and see in live performance and the list is not long. On this late Saturday evening, as the temperatures began cooling post the desert sunset, sitting the cool comforts of a community hall, I have quietly added 1 more name to the list !!
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