As I hear about the peddar road fly-over construction plan, and your stand on the “issue”, my heart fills with pain. How insensible it is on the part of the politicians to build a fly-over right in front of your house ! That means more pollution to damage your lungs and a great loss to Yash Chopra-ji whose heroines still borrow your sugersweet voice ! We dont care about the pollution level in other parts of mumbai. But pollution in front of YOUR house ? So what the fly-over would ease the lives of millions of people who spend hours stuck in the peddar road traffic on a daily basis! Big deal. They dont sing for Yash-ji’s movies, after all ! Why should your precious lungs suffer for Mumbai’s development?

I am so touched to know that you cannot live anywhere but your plush peddar road apartment. Other places are already polluted and have fly-overs. And though you have a bungalow in Pune, and they are not constructing a fly-over in front of it, you do not want to go there. How will you sing for Yash-ji’s heroines from Pune?

I admire your tenacity and the spirit to fight for your cause. Five years ago when the idea of the fly-over was conceived, you met the chief minister and made him drop the idea. Now that is something. I wonder how you convinced them that fly-over was a bad idea – I guess you sung one of your songs from Yash-ji’s movies. But now they are at it again ! So you gave a press statement : “There is no question of getting another residence for me and my family…also, there is no question of staying on in Peddar Road if the flyover happens. So, the best thing would be to leave quietly..I’ll go anywhere…I’ll move to my Pune residence or to my ancestral home in Kolhapur. But I won’t stay in Mumbai. They want us to leave, so we shall”. How dignified – meeting MLAs and giving “quiet” press statements. But please don’t say that. I cannot imagine mumbai without you. If you go away, who will sing for Yash-ji’s movies? And what would Mumbai do if Yash-ji decided not to make movies without you? Your voice is what keeps Mumbai going. Who cares for a fly-over? Please keep up your protest. I am sure, with the entire film industry behind you, they wont dare to build a step in front of your building, let alone a fly-over!

Yours sincerely,
Mumbai.