Dilip Kumar’s life under threat, but from whom & for what??Nobody has answer !!!

Talking of security , if there’s anybody who still wants a glimpse of 89-year-old Dilip Kumar, the man can be spotted every evening in full white, taking his customary walk at Joggers’ Park in Bandra which is kept open for him after the rest of the public has left. Dilip Kumar arrives in his Merc with a police jeep as escort. Is Dilip Kumar’s life in danger? Isn’t security to be given only when there continues to be a threat to one’s life? Makes one wonder if the tax payer should really be made to shell out because someone achieves fame and fans have to be kept at arm’s length.

In fact, he was given security after receiving “threatening” call  for not demanding anything but just as a strange act of insanity by “anonymous” person !!!. Not only that, his decade-old beefed security was been beefed up for thespian Dilip Kumar after he received threatening telephone calls, again.

The then, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ranjit Singh Sharma had confirmed that he had been provided high security. However, the police has not acted on a complaint filed by Dilip Kumar.

Dilip Kumar was quoted as saying that he has been receiving anonymous calls, but that the callers were not demanding money. He described it as strange act of insanity.

The Union home ministry has informed the state government about the threat to the veteran actor with instructions to step up security for him.

Rent-A-Saree: It happens only in India

Gramshree introduces first-of-its-kind saree library that loans

expensive silk and heavily embroidered

Poor women can borrow these sarees not just for weddings but also birthday parties and other special occasions. Gramshree plans to collect 1,00 sarees to set up five libraries across Ahmedabad

Until recently, Pinku Makwana thought her childhood dream of wearing nine yards of Patola silk fabric to a social function would never materialise.

For the domestic help from Ranip in Ahmedabad, keeping a single piece of Patola sari in her wardrobe would have triggered quite a malfunction in her budget.

These saris, which display one of the world’s most complex weaving techniques, come with price tags of between Rs. 5,000 (for a plain Jane) and a deep hole in your pocket (for the intricate variety of golden brocades).

But she did make her sister-in-law burn with envy when she went to a family get-together dressed in a gorgeous Patola – courtesy of a non-government organisation that has started a rent-a-sari service.

Pinku’s dream got fulfilled for a mere Rs. 5 and the expensive sari will be hers for a week.

Of course, she has to foot the dry cleaner‘s bill before returning. But a real small price to pay. Vandana Agarwal from Gramshree in Ahmedabad started this venture after she heard many women workers in the NGO often complaining about their fate – that is wearing the same sari to all social functions.

“Most of the women working with us belong to the low-income group. They can’t afford to buy or keep more than one good sari for social occasions. They would often brood about this fact,” Vandana said.

This led Vandana to open a “sari library”. “The idea is simple. All one needs is a guarantor and Rs.5 to pick up a sari of her choice for a week,” she said.

Vandana has two “libraries” running simultaneously with roaring success in Ahmedabad – one in the Ranip area and the other in Chandlodia. Both localities were primarily inhabited by people of low-income groups.

Proposal for a third one has been on the anvil.

“We have a range of expensive saris such as the Gujarati Patolas, the South Indian Kanjivarams and other silk. Our clientele can’t afford to buy them. At present, we have more than 200 such saris, mostly collected through donations. More are pouring in,” she said.

For the donors, the idea was appealing. “I have collected so many expensive saris over the years and many of them were idling away in my cupboard,” homemaker Hetal Patel said.

“When I realised that my sari could bring so much joy to someone, I just couldn’t resist myself,” she added.

“Thanks to Vandana didi, I can wear good saris just like women from high society,” Pinku said. (courtesy: D. P. BHATTACHARYA & mailonlineindia)

Sunil Gavaskar’s dream at Rashtrapati Bhavan

AJITH PILLAI imagines in his column Straight drive to Raisina Hill  in The Daily Mail about Little Master Sunil Gavasker,  dreaming of being the President of India and delivering his Presidential address:

‘Friends, cricketers and countrymen, lend me your bats; I stand here to bowl a few long hops to Manmohanji not to praise him; I know the shots he missed and the catches he dropped will live after him; The several good innings he played will be interred with the UPA’s bones: So be it with our PM…The noble Sushma Swaraj hath told you Manmohanji was anti-aam admi. And Sushamaji is an honourable man-oops woman…’

….By now dawn had broken. I decided to call APJ Abdul Kalam for his advice. Without any provocation he asked me if I preferred my eggs sunny side up and I answered in the affirmative. 

‘Gavaskarji, you are so predictable,’ he said in his typical drawl. 

And then he launched into classical Tamil which was not Marathi to me. 

Thankfully, he translated poet Thiruvallur into English although he made me repeat the verses after him. 

‘The axle of a cart loaded even with peacocks’ feathers can break. Think and then undertake work; to think later will bring disgrace.’ 

Rattled I rang up Sidhu for some news. He was apologetic. ‘Sunnybhai, things are bad. Soniaji says the Congress can’t back another Maharashtrian after nominating Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha. And BJP President, Nitin Gadkari, says you’re unsuitable since you once refused to wear khaki shorts… Guru, I’ve finally learnt that a fat man downsized through surgery is more dangerous than a tree that grows in girth through watering.’ 

Well, there went my Presidential hopes… 

Read more: With Sachin joining the RS, the Little Master deserves to be considered for the presidency

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