How Tom Alter made me learn to love life
When I woke up this morning and heard the news of Tom Alter's death, I just could not believe it. We had known for some time that he was ailing but all of us here, in his beloved Dehradun and Mussoorie, prayed every day and were hopeful that with his deep love for life and his hearty laughter, he would manage to defeat death. We hoped to see him back here, talking, joking, sharing his views and expressing his joy to be back home.
Yes, this was home to Tom sa'ab, as he was known lovingly to many here. He was born in Mussoorie and studied at Woodstock School. He also lived for many years at Rajpur in Dehradun. Whenever he could get free time, he would come back here, to his roots. All his fans and friends looked forward to these visits during which he would make efforts to organise events, including poetry reading, dance-dramas or his famous theatre presentation on Ghalib.
My association as a journalist and writer with Tom sa'ab goes back many years. Covering the events he organised and the poetry sessions he would suddenly invite me to, I came to know this wonderful actor and writer over the years since 1992.
Each time, one would get to know him more and admire him more. His intense love for the Urdu language and literature gave his personality a special dimension. I shared his love for Faiz Ahmed Faiz and I remember vividly how once, we travelled from Dehradun to Mussoorie for a basketball tournament at his alma mater - Woodstock and talked about Faiz the entire way up.
He could recite Faiz and Ghalib's works for hours. In 2014, he made a serial Ik Fursat-e-Gunah for Doordarshan which was his tribute to the beauty of Urdu verse and Landour in Mussoorie, where he was born and brought up.
He had said to me then: "This is my fond tribute to the scenic beauty of Landour and to the eternal beauty and music of Urdu verse. I could synthesise the two in this story."
The story is based in the year of the partition - 1947 - and shows three friends who gather in Landour in May 1947. The title has been taken from one of the best known and oft-sung ghazals of Faiz Ahmed Faiz….
- Dono jahaan teri mohabbat mein haar ke
- woh ja raha hai koi shab e gam guzaar ke
- weeran hai mae-kada khum-o-sagar udaas hai
- tum kya gaye ke rooth gaye din bahaar ke
- Ik fursat-e-gunah mili woh bhi chaar din
- dekhe hain hum ne haunsle parwardigaar ke
When he visited Dehradun and Mussoorie, he was far more to us than a film actor. In 2005, we all met Tom Sa'ab at his favourite tea and pakora shop in Rajpur village which he had been frequenting since his school days .The Sikh gentleman (Pritpal Singh), who runs this popular shop, had been his childhood friend. His book, The Longest Race inspired by The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe, was released in Rajpur, just outside this shop which is a landmark for the Doon valley. Alter honoured Singh lovingly on the occasion.
At the launch, he said: "The theme is that one should never lose heart and give up one's passion in life." The actor always spoke of his plans to return to Mussoorie and settle there to make films.
Alter regularly visited the Corbett National Park. When he was a young boy, he spent all his winter vacations at the park between 1958 and 1966. "The impressions created then are still strong in my mind. Corbett has given me a lot and I have always tried to give my bit back to it," he would tell us. He regularly interacted with schoolchildren and villagers from the areas around Corbett National Park.
When I met him in June this year at a book release event in the Doon valley, little did I know that this would be our last meeting. Sitting in the café of the hotel where the launch was scheduled, we spoke of this and that. He was having cold coffee and said it was one of the best he had ever tasted.
He was as cheerful as ever and I could have never guessed what he was going through. We discussed the Literature Festival that is going to be held in the Doon valley in November. He promised that he would be there, especially for the sessions planned at the Christian Retreat Centre, which had been his home in Rajpur. He was there for the Rajpur Nature Festival too. So many meetings, so many discussions, so many plans have all come to an end today. Memories - warm, alive and lovely - will forever remain etched in our minds and hearts. His spirit will live eternally in his beloved hills and dales.
Farewell Tom sa'ab. You have been a friend, an inspiration, a mentor and a guide to many. Your smiling face and your deep, rich voice will be with all of us, always. We learnt from you how to love life and be enthusiastic about everything we do. Thank you for all the goodness you enriched our lives with. Alvida! You would have preferred this word over farewell. I wish you had not broken your promise of coming to us in November.