FilmIndia (1940)

"I RISE FROM MY GRAVE" By : K. Ahmad Abbas Comrade Ahmad Abbas has written his "dying declaration", as he says. I give it in full, without excising a word, because to the "dying" man even a word is vital. But if Abbas gets a vision to see in the heart of hearts of his "faithless" friends, he will only find himself — still a sacred relic of something too fine and honourable in the present day fast moving urorld. — BABURAO PATEL. TO read the news of one's own death while still alive is a rare privilege that is vouchsafed to very few people. One such lucky man was Mark Twain, who on reading an obituary notice announcing his death, telegraphed to the paper: "The news is slightly exaggerated." And, borrowing the words of the famous American humorist, I too replied, "The news is slightly exaggerated," when a friend recently telephoned the "Chronicle" office and asked me whether I was really dead! The death motif seems to be haunting me for the past few months. First, it was "reliably" rumoured that I was suffering from "slow fever" (must be very slow, indeed, not to have yet reached even once anywhere near 99 degrees!) • Then came my friend, Baburao Patel's interview in "Asha" in the course of which he referred to some mysterious "personal catastrophe' diagnosed as "unsettled mental condition" and generally regretted that I had stopped writing film criticism. Funny, that the very same issue of "Asha" should have contained two full pages of film criticism contributed by me. And on top of it came the little paragraph in "Editor's Mail" of the last issue of "filmindia": Q. "May I ask who is K. Ahmad Abbas?" A. "To the film industry a short lived storm that passed, to the friends an affectionate memory." Inspite of his wide popularity very few of his over 3,00,000 readers really understand the subtleties of Baburao's peculiar humour and, no wonder, that some of them got the impression that I was no longer in the land of the living. The result: Three telephone calls, two letters and one post card anxiously enquiring about my "death." It is good to feel that there are at least six persons who feel for you! I HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR! As I said, the Death motif seems to be consistently pursuing me. I received a film magazine from Lahore— a special Divali issue — and, as I opened it, the very first article that hit my eye was "WHY FILM CRITICS DIE SOON?", by my friend. S. V. Kriparam, mainly devoted to mourning "the unexpected, sudden and sad death of Khwaja Ahmad Abbas as a film critic." Mr. K. S. Hirlekar, Founder of the Motion Picture Society of India, once again rushed to the rescue of the Indian film industry in taking the Iraq deputation to Delhi. Though not actively interested in the film industry now, his love and enthusiasm, as seen in his numerous selfless activities to further our industry's interests, demand gratitude from all who have an invested stake in the industry. "Filmindia" thanks Mr. Hirlekar and expects his help and guidance in its future battles. Again, it is funny that some weeks earlier, the same magazine should have, after repeated requests and reminders, got from me a special article for this very Divali issue. I looked for it in the magazine but failed to find it. Perhaps the editor felt no obligation towards a humble contributor who is "•dead" anyway— morally if not exactly physically! Finally, by a "stranger than fiction" coincidence, I received as a present from a friend Marie Correlli's beautifully mcrbid novel "Vendetta," the story of a man who was buried alive and returned from his grave to wreak vengeance on his faithless friends, who had flatter ed him and "exploited" him while he was alive but had utterly forgotten him within a few hours of his "death." Thank heavens, I am not morbid like the character in "Vendetta" and. I flatter myself, I possess a sense of humour so that I am more amused than upset by such harmless jokes as the news of my own death. But after reading "Vendetta" it did occur to me that it may be amusing to rise from my temporary "grave" of oblivion into which 1 have been plunged by a conspiracy of circumstances, and to reveal to my old and valued friends, the readers of "filmindia", the "mysteries of life beyond death"— in other words, to tell them about the grand thrills of not being a film critic! AND WHAT HAVE I NOT DONE? I warn you that this is a purely personal article and I propose to make the fullest use of the first person singular. If I am considered important enough to be the subject of an obituary notice, my "dying declaration" must also be recorded! 55