Uncommon Glamour King

There are people who spend their entire lives thriving to be a part of this society… to be accepted as “one of them”. And then there are a rare few who dare to be different. Who belong to a class of their own. And live their life by their own rules, like nothing else matters. If you wonder how it is to live such a life, consumed by such passion as to make your entire life worthwhile, then you should meet Mr. Jiten Bordoloi, better known as Dev Anand Bordoloi or simply Dev Anand.

All of us fantasize about a life we want to live but most of the times lack the guts to go ahead and actually live it. Our pipe dreams remain just that…something to be sighed about when we are way past the age to fulfill those dreams But this man has lived his dream.Since childhood I used to look at him every time I passed from Baruah Chariali and he never failed to attract my attention.Who says a person needs to be elusive to be mysterious? Inspite of being accessible as such, this person is still shrouded in mystery. I’d been wanting to know what it is that makes Dev Anand who he is, and Fried Eye gave me an opportunity to visit him.

I was nervous meeting him, as I had taken no prior appointment with him for this interview. I nervously pressed the call bell. He opened the door and made me sit asking for a 15 minute leave. After 15 minutes, he appeared again. As I looked up, I felt as if the great Dev Anand was himself in front of me. Such was the transformation. It was a memorable moment for me.

The green shirt, and the scarf in his neck. The three watches in his shirt over the cuffs of his shirt. Shirt buttoned till neck. The stick in his hand.The yellow hanky hanging from his pocket.The boots. Certain things are not easy to put into words, and the feeling I had when I saw him is one of those.

On being asked about the particular inspiration that lead him adopt his lifestyle, he replied that he was inspired by everything about Dev Anand: his Albert hairstyle, the scarf around his neck, the flying handkerchief from his right pocket, his walking style, his rapid-fire style of dialogue delivery, his smoking style and his walking-stick. I noticed the belt worn over his shirt and the three wristwatches over the cuffs of his sleeve. He was inspired by every thing Dev Sahab did. The famous actor did everything with a certain flair, and Bordoloi impersonated this exact style down to the most minute detail.

Bordoloi’s favorite Dev Anand film is ‘Jab Pyar Kisi se Hota hai’ (1961, Co-starred by Asha Parikh). He is equally a fan of Mohd. Rafi, he added. He likes to sing songs sung by Mohd. Rafi lip synced by Dev Anand, he believes this duo produced some of the best numbers Hindi Cinema ever had.

When asked about his personal life, he replied in true Dev Anand fashion that he is 18 years old, unmarried and wants to be married someday. He wants a love marriage with an 18 year old girl, and she should respect his talent, be loving and beautiful.

Professionally, he is a well known astrologer.

On being asked if he had any secret desires, he replied that he wants his name to be included in the Guinness World Records as the Uncommon Glamour King. He added that he was born in Shillong and spent a significant part of his life there. So, he wants to go back to Shillong and settle there.

If anything was needed to make this interview more momentous, he ended the interview with a dialogue from Johhny Mera Naam and the Song ‘Dil Ka Bhanwar’ from ‘Tere Ghar ke Saamne’. I came back amazed, and realizing that certain things don’t really need a rhyme or reason, and that not all questions can be answered. So some may ask, what does this person get by dedicating his whole life to being someone else based totally on the way he looks? Nothing much practical, the cynic would reply. But then, what I encountered left me with a renewed belief on passion… and wonder as to how satisfying it must be to know that you have lived your passion to the fullest.

Maybe it’s high time we stop and think about how fair we have been to our own passions, and whether we are doing our best to have no regrets about unfulfilled dreams later in life. And for inspiration we just look for the Jiten Bordoloi’s in our lives.

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