Monday, December 19, 2011

On My Ancestral House and Childhood

The news that the house where I was born (1922) and where I spent a good part of my childhood in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani Bazaar, then in Undivided India, will be given the honour of being a part of the national heritage of Pakistan has sent my mind racing back to memories of happy days spent in the spacious home and its surroundings. This morning many of you asked me to blog about it.

I am at once full of fond remembrances of my parents, grandparents and numerous uncles, aunts and cousins who filled the house with the sounds of their chatter and hearty laughter. My mother who was frail and delicate was always in the spacious kitchen of the house and as a little boy I would wait for her to finish her chores so that I could just sit by her side and gaze at her beautiful face.

I have memories of the sitting room where the family gathered for high tea in the evenings, the large room where the ladies prayed, the terrace, the bedrooms, everything. I can vividly recall the piggy rides on my grandfather’s back and the scary stories my grandmother cooked up to forbid me from wandering out of the house alone.

I have lovely memories of Qissa Khwani Bazaar, where I received my first lessons in story telling, which later provided the impetus to choose meaty stories and scripts for my work. Every day as the trading closed in the market of Qissa Khwani Bazaar, a story teller would sit in the centre of the square narrating stories of valour and victory, deceit and retribution which I would listen to with wide- eyed attention, seated next to my father and uncles.  It is all there in my autobiography which, Inshallah, will be released shortly.


DK

98 comments:

  1. Please share some photographs

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  2. mesmerizing as ur performances have been..thanks!

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  3. Thank You sir.. for sharing all this, You have no idea, how inspirational you are to all of us..

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  4. आप ग़जब के है आप जैसा न कोई है और न होगा ..... Love u sir!!

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  5. Assalaam-O-Alaikum, I need to know about the secret of the word 'Dilip Kumar'.
    As I'm a little Kid infornt of you..
    I love to listen stories. My Grand Father (Nana) used to tell me about stories and Teach me all Good Things. But He is not Alive.
    And I heard also that Shahrukh and Amitabh Bachchan are your Fan..
    Love to You

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  6. Sir, very very heart touching memories of your childhood days specially with your mom
    Sadiq Jafri

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  7. Good evening sir,

    Thank you for sharing your childhood stories with us, sir.

    You are an inspiration for all of us and we are looking forward to your autobiography and wish you all the very best.

    Thank you a ton for being here with us.

    Please write more and more.

    Thanks & Regards,
    Prashant Kumar Jha.

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  8. Thanks for sharing your vivid memories. Do you remember anything about Raj Kapoor as a child, because he too was in Peshawar during those days. Did you meet him anytime there?

    If you remember please tell us Sir.

    Irfan

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  9. pleasent moment of past life.......with a happy family.....as i ever saw in reel life

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  10. Sir, We are impatiently waiting for your autobiography. We have no words to explain what we feel when we see you perform in films like shakti, ran aur shyam and many many others. Please incorporate in your book the coloured pictures of your heavenly abode and your most dearest ones !

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  11. Yaaad e mazi. Azab hay ya rab
    Chheen le mujh sey hafza mera

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  12. Saab,we would all love to see your Mom's pic,
    pl upload !!!
    GK

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  13. thnks for sharing... :) u r jzz awesome :) Allahamdulilah

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  14. nice to have on my tweet sir, LONG LIVE WITH UR LOVING MEMORIES.

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  15. salaam o alaikum, i am a big fan of yours, i remember dilip kumar of AAN, what a look mesmerising. Please share your precious memories

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  16. Dear Sir,

    Thanks for keeping in touch.

    We shall always be grateful to you for sharing memories and always being with us.

    lol,
    freewilly

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  17. how beautiful you described your childhood memories but not satisfied ,eager to know everything,how you came and when,where you met saira mam every thing your success and sorrow your dream . sir you know ,you are university of acting as i read ,aaj tak aapkey takker ka koi nahi na hoga.

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  18. A.S.A.K, Sir thanks for sharing these moments with us.

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  19. Honest and touching. Everyone who has spent time with joint families would relate to this.

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  20. please share more Dilip Uncle ...waiting for your Book now !! Hope you will post Rare pictures too ...lots of love & respect , from
    - Lavanya Sharma Shah ( Daughter of Late Pandit Narendra Sharma ji )
    I am now in USA

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  21. This is beautiful! Thank you for this blog; we are looking forward eagerly to your memoirs.

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  22. Sir,Meri khush kismati hai k mai bhi Qissa Khwani ka hoon or yakin janain hum Qissa Khwani walon k dil me jo ap k liye izzat or jazbaat hain wo bayaan se bahir hai..Ap ki bohat izzat or ap ka bohat maan or waqar hai hamare nazdeek. Ye bazar aj bhi apka muntazir hai,wo galaian jin me ap khele kooday aj bhe ap ki rah takti hain. Yakeen janain aj bhi jab Qissa khawani me ap ka Zikr chalata hai to sb ap ko is tarah yad karte hain jis tarah ap family k ek fard hoon.. Ahle Peshawar or khas kar Qissa-khawani Walo ki taraf se Dheroon Duain or Pyar apki khidmat me pesh karta hoon,wsalaam.

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  23. superb... its truely wonderful to hear such moments from personalities like you... you are great.

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  24. Great and touching...Please share your Ammi Jaan Photo if you have and keep writing...we love you lot...Khuda Hafiz...

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  25. Mashalaah...your thought is also great as your acting. May allah give you long life to share your memories with us.

    Rizwan Qadri

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  26. sir u r great!!!!!!!! aap jaisa kewel ek hi hai wo....swem aap!! love u sir!!

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  27. An ultimate personality...there are no words to express gratitude to this living legend. One of the great Human Being of this century.

    With love,

    Shams Khan

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  28. Autobiography???????????? My Goodness!!! I want it more than my meals. And everyone said Dilip Kumar will never write an autobiography! Amazing! Waiting for it

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  29. Thank you Dilip Kumarji for sharing those memorable moments of your life. My parents also told me stories of Pakistan which were very interesting. Am so glad that you were born in that beautiful era and have so much to share with us fans. Please keep writing on your blog often and I will wait to read your autobiography. My father will also enjoy reading it. Keep good health always and best wishes to Sairaji. Sunil

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  30. Sir, after reading your post, immediately i got one small and simple poem in my mind, i hope you like it, Tell me if you like it sir..You should go visit your birth place it will bring back lot of memories and will give you happiness.. Thanks for posting, keep posting sir..


    Bachpan bhi kya tha, woh shor bhi kya tha,

    aye bachpan mere saathi, Yaadein Abhi hai baaqi

    Woh Ghar mein khilkariyan b kya thi,

    Woh dadi ma ki kahaniya bhi kya thi,

    Maap baap ki mohabbat bhi kya thi,

    Bazaar ki raunaq bhi kya thi,

    Hai re Bachpan chalagaya, Yaadein chodgaya,

    Woh Bachpan bhi kya tha, woh shor b kya tha..

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  31. Thanks for this insight in your childhood days!
    looking forward to your autobiography!

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  32. Hasrat se dekhte rahe maazi ko is tarah,
    jaise ke laut aaenge jo din guzar gae.
    love you.May Allah give you good health ameen.

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  33. Respected Sir,
    It was a great pleasure reading about your childhood in your hometown Peshawar's Qissa Khwani Bazaar. As for me I could relate myself to you by harking back to the DEEDAR's days:

    RUTH BADLE YAA JEEVAN BEETE
    DIL KE TARAANE HO NAA PURAANE,
    NAYNO.n ME.n BANKAR SAPAN SUHAANE
    AAYENGE IK DIN YAHEE ZAMAANE....

    Allah aap ko donon-jahaan kee aur bhee Khushiyaan ataa kare aur lambee lambee Khushgawaar aur behtareen sehatmand bharee zindagee ataa kare, Aameen Summaa Ameen.

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  34. It was teeny tiny blog :( Desperately looking forward to your autobiography :)

    Wassalam

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  35. Dear Sir,
    Today after reading your Twitter message I really feel so proud that I belong to that city where you were born & spent your childhood with your beloved family members. And I really appreciate that The Govt of KhyberPukhtunKhwa has decided to honor your Ancestral Home to be part of the national heritage of Pakistan.
    Sir if You have any of your childhood pictures please do share them with us. That will be a great honor for all of your fans. May Allah give you good health & bless you.

    Da Allah Pa Aman.
    Riaz Ullah Khan (Peshawar)

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  36. Sir, I didn't have any plan to use Twitter anytime soon! The day I came to know that you will be twitting, I opened an account and started following you. You are the only one I am following. My deepest respect,

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  37. Gratitude and Respect.
    -Vishvas Khanna

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  38. sir we proud on u and we thks govt of khyber pakhtunkhwa has decided to honor your Ancestral Home to be part of the national heritage of Pakistan.we have established cultural journalists forum for promtion of our culture and work for welfare of artists and others our one colleague amjad hadi from daily mashriq highlight and we demand thats legend dilip kumar and raj kapoor Ancestral Home to be part of the national heritage of Pakistan.


    ihtisham toru
    Daily jang peshawar bureau
    president cultural journalists forum pakistan

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  39. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  40. Dear Sir. In your comments regarding your house in Peshawar, which is being declared as national heritage,You have described the story of your sweet memories and nears and dears so beautifully but haven't said even a single word to thank those who have done such a marvellous job of declaring your house as part of country's national heritage. with all love and regards

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  41. Assalamualaikum Dilip Sahab,

    Never thought that I could send my salaam to you but I am glad it's happening now. Have been waiting for your autobiography for nearly a year. Had read about it in a news daily and had asked my Mum to lend me money to buy it whenever it comes out.
    Please release it soon.

    I want to tell you how much I love you but can't...all I can say is that although I stay away from these sites, I have created accounts on twitter and blogger just to be able to communicate with you

    Lots and lots of love to my dearest actor.

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  42. Ab batayen bhi kisi ko to yaqee kaun kare
    Chour ke aayen hein us shahar mein kya kya apna

    by:Dr Farooq Bakhshi

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  43. dear sir, i never thought that i could send my regards to you in this way .i hopping your good health.i have been waiting for your autobiography.i want to meet you to know few anecdotes from your legendary life for my book on legends of hindi cinema.if possible i would be very thankfull to you.few month ago i met devsaab for the same reason he told me that even he could not meet you. thank you and regards.

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  44. eagerly awaiting your autobiography sir

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  45. Thanks for the above brief account of your childhood. Magar yeh dil mange more. I shall be eageerly awaiting your biography to come out. All my duas and good wished to you and Saira sahiba. Allah aap dono ko rehti duniya tak salamat rakhe. Ameen. Wasalaam!

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  46. respected dilip saab,
    my father is a big faan of u.and he usd to tell us about ur movies n ur acting skills... he is a die hard fan of u .after watching devdas 1955 i felt that there can be many actor but there cannot be another yousuf saab[dilip saheb]may allah bless u eagerly waiting for ur autobiography............ danish from delhi.

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  47. salutes to you sir ! I always have a wish to have a picture with you ! All my best wishes with you sir !

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  48. You are great history of Time, If Valmik were here, surely Thousands verese in poems , Millions lines to discribe that.

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  49. I am so happy to find your blog. My nani was a prolific reader of Urdu and English, with interests ranging from politics, spirituality to the sciences, arts and sports. Late in life, she lost interest in most things earthly. I lived in the US while she was in Karachi. On one of my trips back, longing to see the spark in her eye again, I asked her what she would like to do together. She said, "tum mujhe Ganga Jamuna phir se dikhwa do." She had seen it in Lucknow in her youth and had become a lifelong fan of yours. I had seen your movies in Karachi in my youth also and had too become devoted. I went searching in the bazaar and finally found a video copy and that is how we spent one of the most precious afternoons of my life; lying on her bed, holding hands and listening to "dhoondo dhoondo re balma", both nani nawasi mesmerized. Thank you for giving us that gift through your craft. Your home is a national heritage for all of us in the sub-continent.

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  50. Hope his home turned into a library for students of cinema!

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  51. Janab Dilip Kumar Sb.... Assalam o Alaikum. bahut fakhar aur khushi ki baat hai ki aap twitter main humlogon se rubaru hain. Aap kisi Taareef ke Mohtaj nahi. Allah kare Aap Ki aur Saira Banu ki umar lambi ho.(Aameen)

    Aap ke liye Yusuf Sahab Allama Eqbal ka yeh sher hai...

    HAZARON SAAL NARGIS APNI BENURI PE ROTI HAI...
    BADI MUSHKIL SE HOTA HAI CHAMAN MAIN DEEDAWAR PAIDA

    With Warm Regards,
    Shah Faisal
    faisalramaiah@gmail.com

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  52. Always pray to almighty for your good health...

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  53. I cant wait to read your biography.. As a child growing up i had heard of your movies etc through my father(allah swt jannat naseeb kare) who always loved your movies... So would be nice to read your personal account salam xx

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  54. I can not see any person of our generation whom god has graced with love and success so humble as you.

    We are living in different times with different morals.

    I look up to you as a symbol of the heritage we have and our roots.

    A living example of the kind of person we should be in this messed up state of values and culture.

    Azmat Zuberi

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  55. I remember your,s and your brother,s (Nasir Khan) sparkling smile.It used to bring smile on my own face. I remember when we have arrived from India to Pakistan, very young and poor. Just to look at your photos at local cinema helped to forget our sad surrounding. Your face and then your personality brought me such a calm feelings in me, I do not have words to write . Thank you Yousuf Sahib, I love you so much.
    Mohammed Iqbal, Dallas

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  56. Yaaad e mazi. Azab hay ya rab
    Chheen le mujh sey hafza mera

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  57. Yousuf Saheb's autobiography will be a chronicle of not only Indian cinema but will fill in the blanks of the history of undivided India, it political division in two nations by providing how and what people lived those times and what they felt inside. Above all, I hope to read this as an account of how their relationships survived despite fragmentation attacking them as an unprecedented crisis in this part of the world.

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  58. Proud to share my caste AWAN with you Yousaf Sahib

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  59. Peshawar will always remember you, love from Peshawar KhyberPakhtunkhwa Pakistan.

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  60. Salam n love from Khyber Pakhtonkhwa. May u live long. We r proud of u.

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  61. Love u sir, Iam living here in peshawer ,i will visit your house once InshAllah...

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  62. I've never been a fan of none in my life. I'm not arrogant though. But I've always been your fan forever. Your autobiography, every word you spoke in the interviews or on various events. Every poem you read. I love poetry. I'm an engineer and MBA from Australia.
    Also fan of Mohammad Rafi and Naushad.

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    The article 'On My Ancestral House and Childhood' is a poignant exploration of the author's past, capturing the essence of her ancestral house and its echoes of childhood laughter and family traditions. The vivid descriptions and sensory details transport readers to a bygone era, creating a shared experience of the author's cherished moments. The article balances sentimentality with introspection, inviting readers to reflect on their connections to their roots and upbringing. The inclusion of personal anecdotes and family stories adds depth to the narrative, making it a universal exploration of the ties that bind us. The emotional resonance of the piece is a testament to the writer's ability to convey the universal theme of home and childhood in a deeply personal way.

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