My world has lost its flavour with Farooque: Shabana

The last show of Tumhari Amrita was held against the backdrop of the resplendent Taj Mahal in Agra on 14th Dec 2013 to a standing ovation." This is a fitting finale," I said, "We have been doing the play for 21 years, I think the curtains should drop on the play". "No way," he replied. "We are good to carry on for another 21 years". Thirteen days later, I get a call at 3 am from his wife Rupa that Farooque had passed away in Dubai due to a massive heart attack. To speak about Farooque in the past tense seems like a grammatical error, an aberration of language. He was my friend, my colleague, my well-wisher of 44 years. I first set eyes on him in the corridors of St Xavier's College, Mumbai. He was the most popular boy in college. We became friends instantly and together formed the Hindi Natya Manch. All the money for the production would come from Farooque's pocket because the college ran an English theatre group and had no funds left for our efforts. We inevitably won all the inter-collegiate drama competitions —Farooque for Best Director and Best Actor and I for Best Actress. But over the years the pattern remained the same. I would be anxious and nervous before the curtains came up and he would be cool as a cucumber!