[pakhtu] Peshawarites still remember the Kapoor family

[Guest guest]

namaskar mitra,

see newspaper link to see house picture.

The link below points to a photograph of the Kapoor's house in

Peshawar.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-12-2003_pg7_25

cheers om sanjeev

Sarhad Conservation Network®

pakhtu

Tuesday, December 30, 2003 2:27 AM

[pakhtu] Peshawarites still remember the Kapoor family

Somebody recently showed me the birthplace of renowned artist Amin Gulgee

inPeshawar Walled City. There must be other important places of significancein

and around Peshawar which need to be preserved and should be turned intotourist

attractions.In UK one place charges Pound 1.5 just to let you sit in a chair

whereWilliam Shakespeare apparently sat. Absurd as it might seem its still a

goodway of making money from the tourists who flock to get a chance to sit

onit.While countries like Egypt run entirely on their tourism industry we

haventdone anything in this regard as yet. although we have some of the

mostunique, varied and intersting places in the world. Though it is very easy

toblame the western media for the bad image we have earned for a region

whichwas once described as the 'most hospitable place on earth'. Today

foreignersand even our own national tourists who wish to bring their women folk

andfamily along avoid going to Swat etc as they fear they might get harassed

byextremists and fanatics. Foreign cricket teams refuse to play in Peshawarand

sheikh rashid yesterday announced hastily that the suicide bomber

fromMusharraf's failed suicide bombing belong to nwfp. This is certainly

notgoing to help.But above all this, MMA seems least bothered about doing

anything about itand to counter the negative publicity. Instead of inviting the

world to ourregion and giving them a guarantee that look we are the most

hospitable andfriendly people on earth they remain busy in silly non issues. it

were thesign boards yesterday, today its the mannequins. At this pace and in

such asetting not much is likely to change around here --AJThe link below

points to a photograph of the Kapoor's house in

Peshawar.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-12-2003_pg7_25Peshawarites

still remember the Kapoor familyPESHAWAR: The Kapoor family, which has produced

legends of the Indian filmindustry after migrating to India from Peshawar, are

still remembered by thepeople of Peshawar.The elders of Dhaki Munawar Shah,

birthplace of Indian film heroes such asRaj Kapoor, Shami Kapoor and Shashi

Kapoor, still recall the days they spenttogether."I used to play with Raj

Kapoor," said Abdul Wahid, a bedridden 75-year-oldshoemaker. Mr Wahid remembers

the days when he enjoyed cold drinks with RajKapoor from Binori Lal's shop

situated near the residence of the Kapoors."That time was of great love and

there was no religious hatred between theHindus and Muslims and there were no

restrictions on children of differentreligions to enter the houses of each

other," he said. Mr Wahid said peopleof the area were saddened when the Kapoor

family and other Hindus leftPeshawar after partition. "However, we became happy

on seeing themsuccessful in the films," he said. Most of the people having close

relationswith the Kapoor family have passed away, only few of them are alive,

headded. One was Muhammad Ismail who died recently, a class fellow of

ShamiKapoor in a primary school at Dhaki."My father told me that he and Shami

Kapoor studied together in primaryschool under headmaster Devan Dena Naath,"

said Fawad Ismail, son of lateMohammad Ismail. "In the early sixties, my father

with other friends,including traders Haji Haleem Jan, Gama Pehlwan, paternal

uncle of Indianfilmstar Shahrukh Khan and Abdur Rehman went to India and met

the Kapoors,"said Fawad."The Kapoors welcomed their Peshawari friends and my

father was happy thatthe Kapoors had not forgotten their childhood friends and

their love forPeshawar," said Fawad.Yaqoob Khan, a milkman, studied with Raj

Kapoor in a primary school andlater Kapoor got admission to Khalsa Dharam

School at Khyber Bazar in thehigher grade.Yaqoob said the Kapoor's love for

Peshawar and Hindko language could be seenfrom the fact that Shami Kapoor and

Dilip Kumar, another Peshawar resident,co-starred in a film and spoke Hindko in

a Hindi film.Shashi Kapoor, Raj's brother and sons Randher and Rishi Kapoor

visited theirhouse in Dhaki Munawar Shah in the 1990s. The house of the

legendary Kapoorsat Dhaki Munawar Shah is still identified as Kapoors' House

where PrithviRaj Kapoor used to live with his family. In the 1930s, Prithvi

went toBombay and started his acting career and was followed by his son Raj

Kapoor.After Independence, the Kapoors' house was acquired by a jeweller

HajiKhushal Rasool under the settlement clause and now, some Bengali

nationals,who prepare school bags, have rented the house, Yaqoob added.The

present owner of the house, Haji Muhammad Israr Saraf, when contacted,said that

he wanted to set up a small hospital in the house to provide freemedial

treatment to the poor which would be a tribute to the Kapoors iftheir house was

used for a noble cause. -APPSarhad Conservation

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