The Day I Lost Pancham
Jan 4th, 1994 was a usual day for me.... I met Vaishali in the evening and was about to speak to her when I heard the terrible news on TV. The news sounded strange and imperceptible...almost as if someone was talking in a foreign language. It took me some time to realize that it was REAL. He was no more. Vaishali later told me that I left suddenly without the usual courtesies. I left her house in Tulshibag, but I don’t remember how I reached my home. I probably was oblivious to the usual noise and din of the marketplace. It was a very sad day. Till that day, I hadn’t known what it was to loose a dear one. I had felt the urge to cry out loud but there wasn’t a shoulder anywhere near. And then a few days later, the soundtrack of 1942 A Love Story was released. I headed to purchase my copy of the audio cassette. It was very unusual feeling to hold on to a Pancham audio cassette knowing that he is no more. After the commercial flop of Gurudev and Drohi, I wasn’t really prepared to...