Zohra comes alive, through fond memories and laughter

NEW DELHI: "After I'm gone, whenever you think of me, just say 'cheers'!" That's the spirit that marked the condolence meeting for Zohra Sehgal, who died in the city at the age of 102 recently. No tears, just happy memories and laughter marked the 'smriti sabha', not a 'shok sabha', organized by Sehmat, National School of Drama and Sangeet Natak Akademi and attended by well over 150 people at NSD's Abhimanch.
It was an evening to celebrate, as poet-critic Ashok Vajpeyi said, "a life well lived"of a girl christened Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan, who studied in Lahore and later travelled to Europe to learn modern dance.Back in India, she joined the legendary dancer Uday Shankar's troupe and went on to become an intrinsic part of Indian theatre and cinema -- a journey that continued till her last film Saawariya in 2007.
In his tribute, NSD's Waman Kendre spoke about the 'addas' that his institution was planning to start to celebrate India's living legends. "And who better than to start with than Zohra Sehgal, we thought. However, that's not possible now."
Sehmat's M K Raina and Ram Rehman smiled while talking about her unorthodox approach to life and art. "Her wickedness, her ability to joke and pull people's leg all the time was tremendous. But behind all this was her great professionalism. Even for a simple street event, she'd prepare for days in advance, preferring to memorize entire scripts than read out from a paper."
Theatre person Saleema Raza, who was like a daughter to Sehgal, remembered the time a young fan once walked up to her 'ammi' and wouldn't stop raving about her. "Finally, all she said was, 'You're seeing me now when I am old and ugly, what would you have said when I was young and ugly'."
Although she didn't know Sehgal personally, actress Sharmila Tagore preferred putting herself in the "fan category". "She had this amazing zest for life which was infectious," said the actress, recalling the time the two were together at an event about 30 years ago. "It was supposed to be a serious evening, and suddenly she whispered to me, 'I think I want some beer'. It was so funny." Ruing the fact that she was not able to see her on stage, the actress was all praise for "her enigmatic and 'elastic' face --I think that was the result of her dance background -- that's such a boon for any actor".
Accepting condolences, Sehgal's daughter, dancer Kiran Sehgal, spoke about her mother's last few days. "On the one hand, she seemed resigned to the fact that it was time for her to go, on the other, she was keeping track of who was winning at Wimbledon! And of course, wondering why the government wasn't responding to her requests for a ground-floor house, considering her age. 'Beta, ghar mila' is what she'd ask everyday. Instead of all those Padma awards that she didn't ask for, the government should have given her what she wanted (it was, after all, something she was entitled to as an 'eminent artiste')," she added.