Anil Dharker (1946-2021): He was a true bon vivant

My mind is flooded with memories even as my heart strives to deal with the shock of Anilrsquos sudden passing I was in touch with him over hurried frantic WhatsApp messages less than 24 hours before his heart surgery He had stated that he was ldquonervous and anxiousrdquo which was slightly ominoussounding especially coming from himOurs was a friendship going back 40 or more years While I cannot recall our first meeting I can easily remember our last few prepandemic encounters And the many promises to meet ldquoas soon as things improverdquoI am very close to his wonderful partner Amy Fernandes who has been his rock and emotional anchor for decades Anil addressed her as his lsquobaikorsquo with enormous love and pride My husband Dilip and Anil shared a common passion mdash for rare single malts and whiskies Anil was a true bon vivant with a refined taste in all things beautiful and wonderful mdash food books cinema and art I tried unsuccessfully to get him to write a novel mdash a love story He had it all inside his head unfortunately that didnrsquot happenlsquoHe wore many hatsrsquoAnil had a deliciously wicked sense of humour and when we cracked jokes in Marathi that few understood it gave us both a special kick I enjoyed his childlike curiosity He had enormous empathy and was a good listener with a keen sense of observation mdash plus a monumental ego It was his strong selfbelief that drove his ambition Like he said about himself ldquoI may sound pompous but I wear many hatsrdquo Which indeed he did It was his energy that drove prestigious projects like the Mumbai International Literature Festival and Literature Live He curated both meticulously without tiring or taking the easy way out Since I was on his Advisory Board we would brainstorm frequently about the themes authors and content for the next literary eventDe was on the advisory board of his literary festivals and they would brainstorm frequently for the next eventAs a liberal and free thinker Anil did not hesitate to speak out against shifting political trends He did so as a concerned citizen worried about various freedoms in what he saw as an increasingly intolerant environment This was evident in the choice of bold topics he picked for the concluding debate of the festival he had started and nurtured since 2010 These fiery and controversial debates often led to ugly protests and comments but Anil was not one to back down This is what I see as his greatest attribute and contribution I am sure it wasnrsquot easy and there must have been immense pressure on him to drop a few authors or change the subjects of some of his more sensitive sessions which he resolutely refused to do I have seen him taking on a very hostile and motivated crowd at one such debate at which I was a speaker He did so with dignity firmness and authority befitting his stature as the director of the festival Later the same evening all of us relaxed mdash he with a tumbler of his favourite malt His sense of humour was intact as we reviewed the unpleasantness of the times we live in The literary landscape looks a bit too arid without Anil rushing around in his trademark kurtapajamas his silvery mane of hair groomed to perfection his skin glowing Yes Anil was impossibly vain mdash I found that such an endearing traitlsquoA good sport all the wayrsquoMany moons ago when I was the editor of Society and later Celebrity and Anil was the editor of Debonair the lsquoPlayboyrsquo of India I persuaded him to pose for a cover story with him recreating the iconic James Bond poster mdash Anil as 007 with a fake gun and two gorgeous models on either side Surprisingly he agreed Anil at the time was trying to ldquointellectualiserdquo what was essentially a ldquogirlierdquo magazine which sold on its centrespreads and pinups mdash not long essays on Truffautrsquos oeuvre or Ritwick Ghatakrsquos masterpieces Anil tried valiantly to balance the two That was Anil mdash a good sport all the way And a first rate writer of highly readable prose An aesthete and connoisseur I can see him raising a glass of Aberlour 18 years wherever he is