When a friend -- Taaj Seth -- met him at the Sonegaon Airport when Dilip Kumar’s Calcutta-Bombay flight had a stop-over, and presented him with a basket of oranges, the celebrated thespian, accompanied by other artists, jumped with joy. Nagpuri Santra was a matter of not just about the fruit he liked, but also had wonderful memories associated with it. His mind darted back to those young days years and years ago when he travelled regularly to Nagpur as representative of his father’s fruit business in Mumbai -- obviously to purchase truck-loads of santra to be dispatched to the family shop in Bombay Crawford Market. The young Yusuf Khan made several such trips to Nagpur to conduct business operations, mainly out of the famed Santra Market. Those memories never left the handsome young man whom the world started knowing as Dilip Kumar later. To Nagpur he would often gravitate to buy truck-loads of santra and other fruits. And on those trips, he would often stay at the residence of Taaj Seth. Another home he often stayed at was that of Aleem Seth -- with whose sons he struck an instant friendship.

 

The young group would often stay awake through the nights, share jokes, experiences, and also dreams. The tart taste of Nagpuri Santra and its fragrance stayed with Dilip Kumar throughout his life. Once the regular visits to Nagpur stopped as Dilip Kumar gained gravitas in films, he felt that his connect with Nagpur was over. But soon, he found not just a chartered accountant in Mr. N.K.P. Salve (who later became Union Minister and occupied important positions in the country’s public affairs) but also a friend at whose residence he would stay when he came to reply to certain queries about his finances etc.

 

During one of those visits -- which were quite many -- Dilip Kumar spoke to the media, too, and responded to questions about his life and career and likes and dislikes. To a question from a woman journalist, he said, in effect, ‘Two women influenced my life tremendously. One of them was my mother’, leaving everybody to guess who the other woman could be. Of course, she could obviously be Saira Bano. But another considered guess zeroed in on Devika Rani who gave him the break in films. On a casual visit to a friend at Bombay Talkies, Devika Rani noticed one handsome young man with a sober face, and instantly felt that she had found a hero for Jwar Bhata. Of course, Yusuf Khan never shared this with his father Sarwar Seth, who happened to know about the son’s foray into films only after the film was released and publicised. For years, the old man did not talk to his son. It was Nagpur’s Taaj Seth who possibly helped build a bridge back between the two.

 

In Nagpur, apart from his friendship with the Salve family and that with Taaj Seth, Dilip Kumar also grew close bonds with Aleem Seth, another fruit dealer in Vidarbha. To his crowded office at Santra Market, the young Yusuf Khan would often go, sit there for hours, tasting oranges and other fruits, haggling over prices, joke about things around, and leave only after promising that he would return soon. And return he did, every now and then, carrying back not just his massive purchases, but also sweet memories with which he all the time remained loyal. After the first break in films, the second and the third and the fourth, too, came in quick succession, and Dilip Kumar got sucked into an engaging career that brought him honours as high as Padma Vibhushan and the Phalke Award. Later, Nagpur did fade out of his map, but Dilip Kumar often recalled his Nagpur connect whenever he happened to meet somebody from the Orange City. His fondness for Nagpuri Santra too became a lifelong love.