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Bharathi S. Pradhan
Last month on October 24, when hordes of visitors began to pour into Palm Breeze, the iconic bungalow of the 1970s, it was for a reason that was vastly different from what it was once famous for.
If only bungalows could talk, this one-storeyed house on 9th Road in Mumbai's Juhu-Vile Parle scheme, would have told a hundred tales about changing equations.
Four decades ago, this bungalow shot to fame when superstar Rajesh Khanna flouted convention and set up his girlfriend, Anju Mahendru, there. It was witness to his halcyon days, his dizzy stardom, the stream of fawning filmmakers and huge knots of fans who'd want to catch a glimpse of the 1970s' heartthrob visiting his steady girl. It was also witness to dejection as he abruptly cut her out of his life and married Dimple Kapadia. But it was a standing testimony to a grand gesture from a former boyfriend to his ex-flame as Rajesh Khanna gave the costly bungalow to Anju as a parting gift.
Those were the days when Anju would cry quietly and tell reporters, 'He still visits me. There's a rat that sneaks into the house every night.'
But over time, equations changed again. Rajesh and Dimple grew apart, Anju became Rajesh's trustworthy friend and romance was kept out of the picture. Soon, Dimple and Anju too became friends. In his last days, they took turns keeping vigil at his bedside as the man who was once a bone of contention between them had long ceased to be of romantic interest to either.
The friendship between Anju Mahendru and Rajesh Khanna lasted much longer than their love story did. They actually became such good friends that she helped him in his workplace and he trusted her with all his personal information. In fact, ultimately Anju was the only one who had no materialistic goal in mind when she stood by him till the end and walked away without controversy when his hearse pulled out of Aashirwad.
Anju gathered so many friends around her that it was in her bungalow where, minutes before Jiah Khan was found hanging, her mother Rabia Ameen and Aditya Pancholi were enjoying an evening together. It was unthinkable then that a few weeks later, Rabia would be putting Aditya and his son Suraj in the dock for the 'murder' of her daughter.
On Friday, there was grief again in Anju's bungalow as her 88-year-old mother and best friend, Shanti Mahendru, passed away. Over the years, whether a superstar visited it or not, the house always brimmed with friends. Anju and Shanti shared everything, including cigarettes. They loved dinner parties, musical sessions and a good round of conversation. Even in her 80s, Shanti looked forward to her annual trips to London and it was there that she had a fall this summer. For a very long time it was touch and go in London before Shanti could come back to Mumbai. But just when it seemed like she might return to normalcy, she slipped into a coma, never to come out of it alive.
When Shanti passed on, Anju was understandably inconsolable. Men and friends may come and go but her mother had been her constant for over 65 years. By the time word spread that she was no more, Punam Sinha, whose Ramayan stands opposite Anju's bungalow, was there lending full support. The Sinhas were like family for Shanti. Sonakshi, Luv and Shatru himself who was in town for Diwali were all by Anju's side. Aditya Pancholi was like a younger brother as he sat by overseeing every arrangement along with Punam. Amrita Singh (Saif's ex-wife), who lives down the road, also came. The many who rallied around Anju were an indication of how warmly the mother and daughter gathered people around them. Even Anita Advani, best known for her claims as Rajesh Khanna's last partner, went over to condole with Anju.
Along with the stream of people who cared for Shanti, one also felt sorry for the many stray dogs that the bungalow housed. One sat quietly wrapped under a table all through the last rites, another ran down the stairs and sneaked into the kitchen; Kaalu, who had stayed by Shanti in her lifetime, was so distraught that he constantly wanted to go up to the body. When the ambulance finally took her away, Kaalu ran after the vehicle. One illustrates this graphically because it is in the time of death that one understands how many lives one has touched. Whether human or animal, Shanti Mahendru scored well on this front.
RIP, Shanti Aunty.
