For Sanju sir…

“Hey 29, happy birthday to us,” he said on the phone when he called me on Sunday.
Though his voice lacked his trademark crackle yet it was Sanjay Dutt alright. “I’ve just finished with the puja, how are you celebrating,” he wanted to know.

It was 29th July­­__ our birthday__ and just like the past few years, Sanju called to wish me. He also wanted to know if I had gone to a particular astrologer that he had recommended to me when we had last met at his Imperial Heights apartment. “Arre, why haven’t you gone till now,” he chided me. “He’s really good. I’ve already told him that you’ll be coming,” he said.

Really, I didn’t want to meet the astrologer but since he has been so insistent I told him that I’d surely make an appointment. This made him happy. “Good. I’m telling you he’s very good. Till now whatever he has predicted for me has come true,” he gushed.

The eternal optimist that he is, he believed anything good that anyone told him. He was pretty kicked about this astrologer because he had predicted that he would be rid of his “terrorist” tag. And since last year, the TADA court acquitted him of terrorism and conspiracy charges in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts; Sanju felt he was on the right track.

As to why he was so insistent that I meet up with the astrologer is because of yet another prediction. “You know what, he has predicted that 2008 is going to be a fantastic year for all those who are born on July 29. He predicts a golden year for us,” he gleefully told me in our last meeting. Seeing the skepticism on my face he joked, “Arre even if it’s a fantastic year for you and not me, I’ll be happy. Kissi ka toh achcha ho. So take that look off your face,” he laughed.

He could joke about it but the spectre of the verdict was always looming over him. All these meetings with astrologers and temple visits proved that he was tensed and apprehensive about his future. Like he had confessed to me once, “There are days when I get up in the middle of the night fretting about my future. And then there are phases when I think things are getting better so I must work a little harder.”

Maybe it was the success of Lage Raho Munnabhai__ a film that catapulted Sanju back in the top bracket___or just an epiphany but Dutt did take a reality check. He dropped anchor in an otherwise windswept life, kicked the bottle and went on a boiled-food-only diet. Gone was the man known for his mercurial temper and skirt chaser reputation. He even made peace with his daughter Trishala, who stays with her aunt in New York. His father, Sunil Dutt’s death was a huge jolt and mellowed him further. That’s when he stopped being the baba that he always was perceived as and became the big brother of the family.

After his acquittal in the TADA court, Sanju was hopeful of getting a lenient verdict in his conviction under the Arms Act. “I’m prepared for the worst. I have to face whatever happens but I have full faith in the judiciary of the country,” he told me on our birthday.

When I asked him what is the best gift he has got for this birthday, he said, “The only gift I want is my freedom. Just pray for me, 29 that I get it. I’ll never ask for anything more.”

Well, the long arm of the law doesn’t usually unwrap a birthday gift.