Anecdotista Por Excelencia : Aabid Surti

Tring Tring… Tring Tring… A pedal rickshaw had stopped outside. Girdhari wanted to go out but felt drowsy. Tring Tring… Tring Tring… Girdhari walked out of the main door. Dad was there, indeed, with a bag of goodies for Girdhari. Dad gifted him a book, Satya Ke Prayog, written by Mahatma Gandhi. Girdhari’s childhood hobby of reading was ignited after reading Bapu’s autobiography. He started reading more books. When finally Girdhari grew up, he read a novel, Sufi. The parallel and true story of a painter and an underworld character growing up together in Mumbai’s Dongri, blew his mind off. The setting, characters, plot and incidents portrayed in Sufi appeared so real that it was mind boggling, to say the least. The author of Sufi turned out to be Aabid Surti, ahem the Aabid Surti !  

I went out in search of the prolific raconteur.  In one of the quaint lanes of Mira Road, a green suburb of Mumbai, I finally managed to meet the creator of Sufi. Aabid Surti wears many admirable hats on his head. He is a a painter, screenwriter, environmentalist, author, cartoonist and a playwright ! But today, dear reader, you will meet Aabid Surti, the acclaimed author. 

Aabid Surti remembers his early days spent in a Dongri tenement. He was studying in an art school, Sir JJ School of Art at that time. He found painting to be an expensive hobby. His poor family told him to support his education himself. While doing several odd jobs, he landed at a film studio. The film was Begaana, written by Mushtaq Jalili. Dharmendra was the hero and Supriya Choudhury of Meghe Dhaka Tara fame, was the female lead in Begaana. Aabid started working as film’s director, Sadashiv Rao Kavi’s fourth assistant. Aabid’s main job as fourth A D was that of a clapper boy. That morning, Supriya was getting her make-up done when Aabid arrived with a pair of sandals. Supriya’s co-actor, Madhavi was deeply engrossed in reading Dharmyug, a popular Hindi magazine, then. Supriya offered her left feet for Aabid to put her sandal on. Out of curiosity, she asked Madhavi what was she reading. Aabid started putting Supriya’s left feet in her sandal. Madhavi replied that she was reading a fantastic story. Supriya enquired about the writer while offering her right feet to Aabid. Aabid held Supriya’s right feet now. Madhavi replied, Aabid Surti. An embarrassed Supriya pulled back her right feet. Aabid was promoted as Supriya’s diction coach, pronto ! He also started working as film’s screenwriter, Mushtaq Jalili’s assistant to hone his craft as a writer.

Aabid became an author, by accident, almost. His first literary creation came out of purgation, after effects of an unexpected break-up. He was studying in Sir JJ School of Art. A batch mate came into his life and friendship peaked at romance. On his first date, he took his then girlfriend, to a zoo ! See, they were madly in love. Both of them wanted to get married, desperately. But there was a catch. The rich girl – poor boy angle came into full display, and how ? Her NRI family got wind of the serious romance and her brother took her out of India. Aabid was shattered, devastated and heart – broken !

Aabid could have gone astray but he channelised his frustration on paper. He started writing whatever he was going through, at that time. His writing ended into a huge bundle of papers. A scrap dealer was his neighbour in the same shanty. Aabid gave him the whole bundle to sell as scrap. The deal was that both of them would split the earning equally. The scrap dealer read and read some more of Aabid’s writing. He took that bundle to a Gujrati publisher and told him confidently that this content was kadak, top notch. The publisher read it and called Aabid to pay him an advance amount. It got published as a Gujrati novel, Tootela Farishta. It was a great success and a star was born, literary !

Aabid Surti believes, his interaction with Mushtaq Jalili on six film projects including, Ek Phool Do Maali, helped him a lot to understand, how to create a plot, develop the scenario and placement of the characters. In the meantime, the magazines and publishers started demanding more stories and books from Aabid. He started writing horror stories and comedy stories, on demand. He got six other novels published in this phase. Sufi got written because of publisher’s demand for Aabid’s biography. Imagine, people like Premchand, Kamleshwar, Manohar Shyam Joshi, Chetan Bhagat were celebrated authors before trying their hands at screen writing. Flouting the norm, Aabid first learnt screen writing before becoming a published author. But that is the real Aabid Surti for you; never follow the crowd. Make your own mark and create your own niche !

The inspiration for the novel, In The Name Of Rama, came from a news item from Ayodhya. In the 6 December, 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid, a lone policeman stood, to face the marauding crowd of thousands. Something which touches you creates an idea for the book, says Aabid. It could be a word, an image, expression or a conversation, anything !

Aabid Surti is working on two novels, at present. One Gujarati and the other one in Hindi. 

Aabid Surti’s all time favourite author is Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

Aabid Surti has written more than 80 books including 45 novels, 10 short stories collection, 7 plays, travelogues, children’s books etc.

Aabid Surti has received several awards as 1993 national Award for Teesri Aankh (Short Stories Collection), Hindi Sahitya Sansthan Award, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat Gaurav. 

Aabid Surti’s favourite novels from his vast repertoire of literary works are: 

Bahattar Saal Ka Bachha

Sufi (Sufi, the invisible man of the underworld)

Kaale Gulaab

Mahapurush

Daag

Behta Paani

Gulmohar Ke Aansoon

Chamatkaari Ladki

Vasaksajja (Cages)

Kathavaachak (In The Name Of Rama / Comatose Crusader) 

On a parting note, dear reader, Aabid Surti makes a promise to Maverick Yogi that they will discuss his other avatars also, next time. Maverick Yogi enlivens his fanboy moment to the hilt. Aabid smiles. By now, we know, Aabid Surti is one pure soul behind his varied personas !