A family's life story, touchingly told

A biography of the dutts, by their daughters, is composed of memories pleasant and painful.

Some books should be judged solely by who has written them. Mr and Mrs Dutt: Memories of Our Parents, by Sunil and Nargis's daughters Namrata and Priya, is a touching if air-brushed account of their famous parents, and offers the reader a peek into their lives.

Though the book steers clear of contentious and dark episodes in their lives, there is something about the way the book has been written and illustrated with photographs that makes it easy for the reader to connect with the Dutt family. It's a story replete with family picnics, big and small calamities, and the bond that the parents tried to create between the three children.

The years between 1979 and 1981 were the most terrible period in our lives. Mom was away a lot in Delhi because of her political commitments.

She had been close to Indira Gandhi and when Emergency was declared (between 1975-1977), Mom and Dad stood loyally by Mrs Gandhi, travelling frequently to meet her in Delhi. Sometimes we would go with them. Mom took her duties as a Rajya Sabha member seriously, though we never got used to her being away.

A year before her illness she had started looking unwell. We thought she was overworked and tired because of the incessant travelling between Delhi and Bombay.

When we went to London for a holiday, she had some medical tests done, but they showed nothing. She had lost weight; she had aged and had dark rings under her eyes. She used to keep saying she had pins and needles all over her body. Now we know about cancer, we know these can be early symptoms.

In the meanwhile, Sanjay had graduated from Lawrence School, Sanawar. He did pretty well and got admission to Elphinstone College in Bombay. But problems lay ahead for him too.

Sanjay explains, "When I got back home, things had really changed. I went to college for a year. It was then where it all began. I started taking drugs. I told Dad I didn't want to go to college, but my parents were keen I study further. I never attended college. I told them I wanted to be an actor. Dad said okay and my training started. I learned horse riding, improved my Hindi diction and took acting classes. I realized acting was a tough job. Dad launched me in Rocky and I think it was the proudest moment in my mother's life just to see me become an actor."

Sanjay's drug phase was terrible and it added to the intense anxiety of that time. Mom was perceptive, guessing something was wrong with him. She didn't know what it was and, being a loving, protective mother, didn't believe her son could ever have a drug problem.

If anybody suggested he may be on drugs, she'd jump to his defence saying, "My son can never do that. He never drinks and never touches drugs."

Sometimes she asked Sanjay directly if it was true, but he knew how to get round her and within minutes she'd forget her question. For a long time, she kept her doubts from Dad who was busy with his films and launching Sanjay in Rocky. Not until Mom was really unwell did she share her fears with him.

On one particular visit to Delhi in late 1979, she was suspected of having jaundice and returned to Bombay. She was in such bad shape that she could hardly walk. She had to be rushed to Breach Candy Hospital that night.

Dr Farookh Udwadia detected an obstruction in her pancreas and Dr Praful Desai, a cancer specialist, advised Dad to take her to America as soon as possible, as they didn't have the facilities and equipment to deal with her condition in Bombay. We were told that the obstruction was causing the bile to back up in her system and had caused severe jaundice. If uncontrolled we might lose her.

This was an emergency. Fortunately Murli Deora, who was a close family friend and an MP in Bombay at the time, came to our help. He organized RBI permissions so Dad could take the dollars that were urgently required for treatment and surgery.

In those days there were many restrictions on how much foreign exchange was permitted so Murli uncle arranged everything and Dad flew out with Mom the very next day. Our family physician, Dr Puri, accompanied them. Dr Puri remained a close confidante and friend of Dad's, and since then has been at our side in all our times of trouble.

Dad booked a room at the Waldorf Astoria, but Mom was so weak that he had to carry her inside. While the Waldorf management was arranging a room for them, he sat with her on the hotel steps. He couldn't take her up to her room because she couldn't move. The next day they admitted her to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.

Unfortunately, they couldn't operate immediately as they weren't able to drain the bile from her system, an essential procedure required before surgery. The operation was delayed for about a month. This delay probably added to the complications that followed, as the cancer had started spreading during that time.

While Mom and Dad were in New York, we children were in Bombay. I was in college, Priya was in the ninth grade and Sanjay was busy with his film Rocky. We talked to Dad every day, even though making overseas calls in those days was a slow and tedious business.

We had to book a call and then wait hours before getting through. The waiting exacerbated our anxiety and tension. The three of is then flew to New York to see her for a few days. Dad told us she'd be back home in a fortnight after the surgery. So we returned to Bombay, reassured. We didn't know it would be almost a year before she could come home.

MR AND MRS DUTT: MEMORIES OF OUR PARENTS
Authors Namrata Dutt Kumar Priya Dutt
Publisher Roli
Pages 200
Price Rs 695