One of the fondest memories that one nurtures are those about growing up with one’s siblings often reflecting the ‘you have my back’ kind of bonding and ‘my lips are sealed’ trust for keeping secrets. We know there’s also a mild version of cartel formed by elder siblings both as protectors and bullies of much younger siblings, who’re not to be taken seriously and let into family secrets that elder ones may have access to.
Early on all five of us shared an ‘Alma mater’ (till I passed my 4th Grade) which made the Sinha’s famous in La Martiniere School in hometown Lucknow. Coming of age in early 1970s I was weaned on fine attributes of neat handwriting and good behaviour & not using cuss words, mainly due to influence of my three elder sisters, one of whom had quite a celebrity status for her academic brilliance. When Principal announced the Results each term, Sumita Didi (now Prof Chakravarty) would make us all proud !
One common thread amongst us was our great love for literature and classics and films based on them thanks to our Dad. The dramatic world of Hindi cinema has shown heartwarming bonds & love between siblings. From laughter to tears, it has explored the dynamics of brother-sister relationships through fine films that have resonated with audiences across generations. Some films had a deep impact on us as we grew up in 60-70s era. My two elder sisters swooned over Sydney Carton in ‘The Tale of Two Cities’ !
‘Rakhi’ (1962) was our earliest family outing. It’s story of two siblings Radha and Raju orphaned young, but who grow up to become successful entrepreneurs. However, petty differences over their earned wealth and property threaten to ruin their bond. I recall that all of us shed such copious tears when the two get separated that our Dad had a tough time convincing us that this wasn’t for real. One reason for our grief was that the hero was played by Ashok Kumar who resembled our Dad. Waheeda played the sister.
In 1972 came that bold cult film ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ that bowled us over with ‘Dum Maro Dum’ classic sung by Asha. Prashant (Dev Anand) travels to Kathmandu in search of his long lost, younger sister Jassi (Zeenat Aman). He tracks her down but she’s part of a hippie group and it becomes a sad reunion as Dev tries to convince his baby sister to come back home. In the film , Dev Anand sings ‘Phoolon Ka Taron Ka’ that we picked up as a signature ‘sister’ song by a loving brother (for function like ‘Bhai Dhoj’ ! )
As siblings, elder sisters leave home after marriage, settle in far away or even foreign lands as mine did by the ‘70s, last being kid sis & dear friend Kol moving to US in 1979. Over the years we’ve kept in touch, we’ve also exchanged notes on watchable movies that we come across.
As part of my ‘memory bank’ how can I delete another super-hit film ‘Deewar’ (1975) that I’d seen with Didibhai – ‘Bijoya’, a die-hard ‘Big B’ fan ! We both shed tears as Vijay fights the system and turns law-breaker to be finally shot by his younger bro, the dutiful Cop played by Shashi Kapoor ! Films have been an integral part of our lives that have made us laugh & weep together & also remember our Baba. Here’s wishing lots of love on ‘Bhai Phonta’ & great films to watch and savour for my four sisters !
Working on Living 