NOSTALGIA- XV SCREEN

NOSTALGIA 
About my association with “SCREEN”
 
The readers who are die-hard fans of Bollywood like me, must have surely watched the NOKIA 15th Annual Star Screen Awards function telecast on 25th January 2009 on Star TV.It was a glittering affair.
 
Connected to this event,I now reproduce a letter of mine written to Screen on 19th Sept 2009 on the ocassion of its 57th Anniversary.
Alas ! It did not get published (Editor’s decision is final….) However, I would like to share it with my readers,since it reveals about my association with Screen since decades. 
 
 
Dear Editor,
 
I am sure old and loyal readers of SCREEN,like me,will be overjoyed to note that our weekly magazine will be celebrating its 57th Anniversary.HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS AND MAY SCREEN  REACH MORE STARRY HEIGHTS TO THE DELIGHT OF ITS READERS.
 
By the way,I am now a young man of 59 (Born in 1949).I have been reading Screen since I was in the 7th standard in my school days (1961 or so) I used to wait anxiously for my copy of Screen every Friday.My late father was a Ticket Collector in the Railways and he used to stand near the exit gates of a railway station in Gujarat (then Bulsar, now Valsad).There was  an A H WHEELERS’ Bookstall just adjacent to the gate.The stall keeper was a great friend of my father and during his free time (when no train was expected to arrive ) he used to browse through the magazines on the bookstall sitting on a stool just near the gate.SCREEN was his favourite paper too.That’s how we developed the weekly Screen habit in our home.I remember how much I used to pester him on Fridays for  getting SCREEN  as early as possible in the morning—fresh from the press with its sweet inky smell and flavour.I used to glance it hurriedly ,hide it in some secret place ( so that my other brothers and sisters may not find it ! ) and rush to school.After returning from school in the late afternoon much to my mummy’s chagrin I used to go through the entire issue even forgetting my lunch.I used to cut and keep posters of heroes and heroines and my classmates were often jealous of my collection.Well those were the days.I have grown up with Screen and it continues to be my favourite magazine till today.Even now,I stand impatiently in my house’s first floor gallery every Friday morning and wait for the newspaper wallah boy who throws it from his bicycle with such an accurate aim that I catch it in my hands without letting it fall.Thank you SCREEN and Best Wishes to your entire team on this joyous occasion.
 
– J S BROCA                                    
  NEW DELHI.
Those who wouldlike to see a slide show of the AWARDS function,please go to or click on the following link:

http://www.expressindia.com/gallery/picture_gallery.html?sec=405

E..N…J…O…Y !!

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