When Kissa Khwani Bazaar, Peshawar, was in flames 93 years ago, tragedy king Dilip Kumar made a thrilling appearance

                                         

                                            

Around 93 years ago, Kissa Khwani  Bazar in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, was  on fire.

Flames leaping from goldsmiths’ lanes were spreading menacingly and hefty Pathans, unfazed by hostile weather in the dead of night, were trying to break ice with bare hands to fetch buckets of water to douse the fire.        
In an imposing haveli  in the locality, a lady was writhing in labour pains.A midwife, at work, announced the new arrival –Yousuf Khan-Dilip Kumar .

Many times narrating the chilling story in Pustu,  his paternal grandmother-Dadi-told  family members events preceding the birth and said … “ Aur  Ayesha ka sona beta Yousuf tashreef laaya.’’

The  great icon of the world cinema, Dilip Kumar, was born on December 11, 1922, in the North West Frontier region of Peshawar.

On that day, the  big joint family residence of  Khans was lit up with joy and celebrations as  Yousuf, who earned name and fame with silver screen name of Dilip Kumar, was in the lap of mother Aysha Begum and father Sarwar Khan, a dry fruits merchant, was  in high spirits.

Yousuf, apple of  eye of the entire family, started earning fans every day  among acquaintances  because of his bewitching looks.

Every one in the family was happy and nothing was amiss till he turned five.  A  Fakir was passing through the street and his eyes riveted towards him and then what followed,changed the life of a playful child who had started going to school by that time.

The Fakir told Yousuf’s dadi that if the boy survives, he will bring name and fame, but he is highly vulnerable to an evil eye and ''you have to do something to protect the child from such bad omens.

“ This child is  made for great fame and  unparalleled achievements.Take good care of the boy, protect him from the world’s evil eye. He will be  handsome even in old age if you protect him and keep him untouched by the evil eye. Disfigure him with black soot if you must because if you don’t you may lose him prematurely. The Noor(light ) of Allah will light up his face always”.

This emotional description was  narrated by none other than thespian Dilip Kumar himself in his Autobiography to the writer Udaytara Nayar.
Flipping through the pages of the book titled –Dilip  Kumar -The Substance and the Shadow An Autobiography- one can go through many such incidents in life of Dilip Kumar, known for his blockbusters throughout  his career spanning several decades.

Dedicating the book to his parents –Amma and Aghaji- the star said,”Sukoon -e-dil  ke liye kuch to ehtemaam karoon, zara nazar jo miley phir unhein salaam karoon,  mujhe to hosh nahin aap mashwara dijiye, kahan se chedoon fasana kahan se tamaam karoon.'' s per directives  of the Fakir, a barber tonsured Dilip Kumar's hair  and thick lines of black soot was applied every day on his shaven head before he went  to school.

Children  poked fun and he became butt of jokes due to his odd looks. The development left him dejected and introvert. Back home, his mother was upset and the matter was taken up with dadi, but she was firm in her approach and did not want to take risk.

Many times, hot words were exchanged in the family, but the situation remained same except for lightening of thick black soot lines on the head.
In Dilip Kumar's words-“ I feel there was a divine purpose in the episode Dadi blindly believing the  fakir giving me the ugly appearance that made me the butt of unpleasant remarks in school. It was the pain  I endured as the alienated child in school that surfaced from my subconscious when I was the playing the early  tragic roles in my career and I had to express the deep mental agony of those characters.”

In a rare distillation of wisdom from such an experience, Dilip Kumar who  went nostalgic to recall all events to pen down in his book, said : “The human mind , I have come to understand, has the fascinating capacity to store experiences and fertilise imagination with those stored experiences when an occasion demands it. As  I attained manhood, I learned  to voluntarily keep my mind open to thoughts of the mind for recollection at a later day. I also learned to pull down the shutters when I did  not want add thoughts or experiences that would only augment the burden of the mind and serve no purpose whatsoever.

''It is a feat that can be achieved  only when one’s mind has matured  with education and learning from the school of life. But, as a child, however, I could not do anything about experiences, good and bad, finding their way into my subconscious and staying there.”        

Yousuf had heard stories of his birth from Dadi when he was sitting quietly and unnoticed  in a corner around a fireplace to fight chilling cold.
Dilip Kumar heard his Dadi  saying that Ayesha Begum was running risk of her life as male members  were frequently opening and shutting  doors to go out as the local market was  on fire and people were running
helter skelter.

The fire had started when the rest of the shops had pulled down the shutters. It  had started in one of the workshops from the embers that got fanned by gale.

Yousuf’s  uncle, Ummer, was the only man left back home  to  take care of things. It was he who  fought freezing cold and brought the midwife in the nick of time.

The book has also conveyed the actor’s advice to celebrities in the tinsel world:''I have always strongly endorsed the necessity for actors to possess a reasonable degree of social responsibility. The actor who is adored by millions of people owes something to the society,which has given him an elevated and  highly respected position