SABR KA PHAL RAHAT HOTA HAI

Nilesh Parmar

Hello. I am Nilesh Parmar from Ahmadabad and I am a Consultant at a Celebrity/Talent & Event Management firm.

It has been 8 years now into philography and now I cannot imagine my life without it. It was introduced to me by Mr Santosh Lahoti, who is one of the founding members of the Autograph Collectors Club of India. It started as a hobby but now it runs in my veins like blood.

I have more than 12000 autographs of Bollywood and Hollywood personalities, politicians, cricketers, business tycoons, media personalities and more. Do you know what the best part of my collection is? I have collected all these autographs in person.

It gives me immense joy to see my collection grow day by day. I also use suggestions from the senior philographists to enhance my collection.

I have even traveled out of station for my hobby. The cherry on the cake is, that even celebrities are pleasantly surprised when I ask for an autographs when everyone else is chasing them for selfies.

By the way, there is something common between you and me. Both of us have heard this time and again

SABR KA PHAL MEETHA HOTA HAI (patience bears a sweet fruit)

 I am going to tell you about the sweetness of the fruit that I received.

In 2015, there was a concert of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan saahab in Ahmadabad. This was a period when many protests were going on about Pakistani artists to be forbidden to perform in India.

Along with 3 of my philographist friends, I went to see him at the hotel where he was supposed to be staying, but we were told that he was not there but at a different hotel.

So from our ‘philographic sources’ we found the whereabouts of this new place. It was about 100 kms away from Ahmadabad in a place called Mehsana.

My friends and I decided to travel to this hotel. In a few hours, we reached there and waited for him outside.

We waited, waited and waited! At the end of the first day, destiny smiled at us.

Rahat saahab noticed us and he sent his manager. The manager told us that in the current scenario with so many controversies, it was impossible for Rahat saahab to meet us. He suggested that we hand over our belongings to be autographed and he would get it done for us.

For many people this may have been the golden opportunity, but my friends and I thought differently.

Firstly, if I would have agreed, my pledge to collect the autographs in person would have been broken. Also, there was no guarantee that the autograph would be given by Rahat saahab and not Mr Manager who was in front of us. What if we never got our belongings back? Also, there was a grave possibility of Rahat saahab not being able to come to India ever again, so this was the only opportunity I had. How could I jeopardize it?

So me and my friends refused this offer and continued waiting.

In the evening Rahat saahab came out of the hotel but he was too busy to notice us.

He returned at 5 am the next day.

He saw us and finally spoke to us.

 

“Arey, aap log ab bhi yahin hain? Main savere aapko autograph zaroor doonga.” (You guys are still here! I will definitely give you my autograph in the morning)

 

These words of Rahat saahab induced some Rahat in us! The hunger and the thirst after 1 complete day of waiting under the sky at 1 place didn’t bother us so much now.

The dawn turned to morning that turned to afternoon that turned to evening!

THAT WAS THE TIME RAHAT SAAHAB CALLED FOR US INSIDE HIS ROOM!

He had already arranged for food for us. Trust me, it never tasted better.

 

“Aap logo ne hamara 2 din intezaar kiya! Aap hamare itne bade fan hain, humein pata nahin tha!” (All of you waited for 2 days for me? I was not aware that all of you are such ardent fans)

 

His kind words and hospitality touched our hearts.

One by one, he signed all the posters etc we were carrying and you know what? He signed his personal shawl and gifted it to me.

Every time I look at that shawl, I am filled with the warmth and the love that was bestowed on us by Rahat saahab.

 

 This article has been written by Pooja Gupta. 

She is a freelance writer, anchor and a former Radio Jockey. She travels all across India for hosting shows. Currently working on a web series, she has previously written ads, promos, articles, short films, screenplays and dialogues. For work, she can be contacted on pooja.gupta2178@yahoo.com.