Hello Shah Rukh Khan, yes the Bollywood superhero. One minute.
Before I come to the matter, I have this to say. I have watched some interviews/speeches of yours over years where you have spoken about losing your parents at a younger age. In one very recently you spoke about your maternal grandfather which is rare. Mostly you make mention of your paternal grandfather only. So I was surprised to learn that he worked in Mangalore for a brief time as an engineer. Let me make one more thing clear: I am not celebrity obsessed. I don’t follow any of them. I don’t cling to their words or actions. Since you flood social media, sometimes we are forced to look up the catchy phrases.
During my recent visit to Mangalore I had the lucky chance of discussing your maternal grandfather with my friend’s mom who is a septuagenarian. This retired lady teacher knew your grandfather personally. May be you have heard about him from someone earlier. But when we accidentally hit upon the subject, aunty spoke about one Shri Iftiqar Ahmed who was your maternal grandfather. She also spoke about your mother who was then a little girl. She knew them personally. Your grandfather then worked for NMPT, the New Mangalore Port Trust in a senior position. So he was also in the board of aunty’s school as chairman or whatever capacity. NMPT were the founders of KV, Suratkal. So their top men also doubled up as board president in KV. At that time, NMPT was owned by Mallya group. Now I am told they are Zuari’s. Aunty has fondest memories of your grandfather. She said he was a gem, GEM, a very very kind and decent soul – WHICH IS WHY YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE TODAY. She says you are a good man, she believes you are a good human because of your grandfather. She has such an affection and respect for your family. They were originally from Delhi she said, but were on transfer in Mangalore.
Would you like to talk to aunty in person? I told aunty I would tweet you but I have had two or three twitter accounts all deleted. Plus I cannot explain myself to you in that very brief medium. Moreover my privacy matters. Here I don’t have much visitors even if I blog in public. Still I am sure, if this must reach you InshaAllah, it shall. Who knows, you may want to talk to aunty after all! I told aunty there are three possibilities: i) you may never come across this message. (ii) you may read me but ignore me or assume I am making it up (iii) you may want to get in touch with aunty. I don’t have to be in the picture. I know you have resources to locate aunty and directly reach her if you want to. Its entirely upto you. I can’t share my phone number or email. I can’t even verify you. I also don’t want to take credit. Neither are these necessary. Aunty said, if at all you may reach out to her, she could talk to you over phone or you could visit her. She wouldn’t want publicity or have her photos splashed in media. They are very quiet and decent middle class people, living a peaceful retired life. They don’t want any attention to themselves. Yet, because aunty holds so much respect and admiration and love and affection for your grandfather, she would definitely talk to you if you get in touch.
Omg I don;t even know whether you will come across this post. Anyway, my job is over now. You will have to figure out how to go about this. Or you can read this and forget it. Its okay. Perfectly understandable given your busy schedule and star status. Everyone vies for your time. You have your priorities. Aunty said if you ever visit her, what would I do. I said, I could fly to Mangalore from Chennai too – to see HER not you!
These are authentic, genuine, warm people. I am sure you can verify them. Aunty is not keeping good health so she cannot travel. Uncle is also aged. If you ever get to talk to aunty, it shall make me happy. Make us happy. If you don’t, we lose nothing. Thank you.
vijiravindran's 