UG, Pratapji & Mahesh Bhatt…

UG, Pratapji & Mahesh Bhat ...

Chandrasekhar Babu and Pratapji Karvat

It was Pratapji Karvat who was instrumental in bringing UG & Mahesh Bhat together. 

In his mid-eighties now, he lives in an old age home in Mumbai with his ageing brother.In fact, Pratapji is associated with Bollywood in many ways. His ‘moment in the sun’ came when he received an award for his script for the blockbuster film, Salman Khan-Aishwarya Roy starter, "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He received this award in a glittering function in London.

It is to the credit of Pratapji that he refused an offer by director Bhansali to buy him an apartment in Mumbai saying that he was a bachelor and that his needs were minimal! Dressed in a simple pajama-kurta, Pratapji always looked fresh and elegant. His near resemblance to Bal Thackeray, a right-wing politician from Mumbai, sometimes bothered him!

Pratapji is a true intellectual, widely read and well-informed. A voracious reader and a good homeopath, adept at ‘flower remedies ‘. Several people have benefited from his knowledge of alternative medicine. Also a devout ‘I Ching’ reader, his UG reading from the Chinese Oracle had declared that the subject of the reading, UG, as a Superior Person , the Chinese equivalent of a Guru or Master!

Pratapji also dabbled in dowsing or divining and carried a pocket pendulum for this purpose. I once witnessed him using the pendulum and a chart to earmark the exact spot on the chest where UG felt acute sensation, an old symptom of ‘cardio-spasm’ that troubled UG for a long time. UG did concede that Pratapji was right about the troublesome spot!  

Pratapji and Himmat Bhai of Vile Parle (west) were close associates of Osho and knew him very intimately. They were first hand witness to the transformation of Osho from Acharya to Bhagwan. Pratapji sometimes wrote, proof-read Rajneesh's English speeches.Initially, the godman was not very comfortable in English speech making and would take help of Pratapji and others and also insist that they give feedback about his English performance !

Pratapji enjoyed a close friendship with the Bollywood thespian,  Ashok Kumar, brother of legendary singer Kishore Kumar. He often visited the actor in his Chembur home. Ashok Kumar was a good homeopath and enjoyed Pratapji's company. Sometimes he took a ride back from Chembur in Kishore's car. Pratapji was not very comfortable with Kishore , he considered him very intelligent but clever.

Pratapji, the bachelor stayed in Vile Parle ( East ) in an old apartment in those days, it had  no lift. He stayed along with his siblings and his aged mother. UG once visited them, climbing all the four floors to see the old and ailing mother and to assure her that he would take care of her ‘useless’ son and she need not worry about his future! As usual, he was not very easy on Pratapji - he commanded Pratapji to translate his English words into Gujarati for his mother and warned Pratapji not to dilute his words ! This included UG's description of Pratapji as a ‘useless fellow’. Poor Pratapji had to parrot whole sentences verbatim for his mother!

Pratapji , in my experience, came closest to anyone who  dared " to  bell the cat", he was a staunch JK admirer, fond of grand Victorian manners of the senior Krishnamurti and would sometimes disapprove of UG's views and acts. He would launch a verbal onslaught without flinching or batting an eyelid. UG would give back. Sometimes the scene escalated  into a mini war and both exchanged expletives, curses with lots of  f-and b- words thrown at each other generously. Never saw anyone taking on UG like Pratapji did !

UG - Pratapji duals were unparalleled for the sheer lung power expended! And the mean words  exchanged. What ensued was the most funny part. Pratapji, all worked up,  swearing at UG , would walk away from the scene huffing & puffing, swearing never again to lay his eyes on UG. UG would look bemused, " Look at this guy..", as if nothing had happened!. UG took all the bashings in his stride and remained unruffled, cool as a cucumber!

Then came the best part ! Shortly after swearing that he would never again return to UG, Pratapji would invariably be seen walking in again with someone in tow, with his talented nieces or some other friends! He was very proud of his nieces. He always brought along someone or other every time to meet up with the ‘enlightened soul’! What could one say ? Such was his fatal attraction for UG !

UG would eagerly reciprocate by engaging Pratapji's friends, as though nothing had transpired between the two ! Pratapji would  once again be his closest pal, sitting at his feet and intently listening to UG all over again, till the next spat !

Pointing to Pratapji, UG would affectionately remark, " Sir, I am ever thankful to him, he is the guy who introduced me to Mahesh."

Even Mahesh Bhat was not spared by Pratapji, who was upset by the way women were portrayed in some of his films. He would be very critical and blast him ! Mahesh took all this vituperation sportingly!

On one occasion Mahesh got really mischievous and kept repeating, “ UG , grant me a boon - I want to see Pratapji getting laid at least once in life! Please, please….” And then laughing out loud! This went on for quite some time! It was hilarious and Pratapji sat demurely all through Mahesh's shenanigans! 

Regardless of the constant tongue-lashings between UG and himself, Pratapji remained ever faithful to UG and graced his portals till the end. Despite apparent differences in views, there was no rancour between the two. Love and affection were mutual and palpable.

Talk of 'living in the moment'!  Never was there a dull moment in a UG day!