Hello out there, Hamid!

Hamid Sayani is alive He lives through electronic sounds he helped pioneer Hamid is alive He survives in film forms he fashioned for our screens Ham is alive He endures in the minds and hearts of friends beyond countrdquoSo wrote Sylvester daCunha in one of the moving obits heaped on Sayani 19261975 He titled it ldquoHello out thererdquomdashhis affable friendrsquos standard salutation thrilling thousands of fansI write with the background charm of crescendo notes of the Bournvita Quiz Contest jingle soaring in a loop Participant teams fumbling for answers the inimitable quizmaster would observe ldquoThey are completely foxed by thisrdquo as the clock solemnly ticked precious seconds Hamid Sayani the broadcaster and the illusionist Pic CourtesyRajil SayaniLegions of admirers were devastated by the tooearly death by heart attack at merely age 48 of their beloved broadcasterMake that broadcaster radio writerproducer theatre actor documentary filmmaker and master of ceremonies As if not multimirrored enough Sayani was an illusionist extraordinaire a member of the USbased International Brotherhood of Magicians and till 1971 possibly the sole Indian admitted to the prestigious Inner Magic Circle of the World To demonstrate magic for a live audience is already ingenious Sayani managed guiding listeners in their homes to flickflash card packs with panache Coaxing compelling he teased the trickery out of them with softly encouraging instructionsFleeing Junior BSc classes at the Royal Institute of Science Sayani began his AIR career in 1945 Alongside a gamut of sparkling scripts and topical talks were insightful conversations with city personalities for his show So This is Bombay He was as accomplished writing poignantly pitched text Following his report on Gandhijirsquos assassination a newspaper reviewed ldquoCommercial radio does have a soulrdquo Sayani even named his labrador after the magician Swivello right With his daughter Ayesha Pooh as a toddler Pic courtesyAyesha SayaniHe blazed broadcast history hosting the countryrsquos first transcontinental radio phone chat with Hollywoodrsquos Greer Garson During the interview between discussing Americarsquos gender and presidential politics the MGM queen declared the saree the worldrsquos most wonderful garment for womenBefore Vividh Bharati aired from 1957 the spadework for commercial broadcasting was Sayanirsquos through his legendary association with Radio Ceylon Its sway swelling in India the station started a company called Radio Advertising Services for ads and sponsorships as well as to recruit broadcasters and announcers With the talent Bombay offered Radio Enterprises Pvt Ltd was set up and Sayani appointed its first production director A director for Ama Advertising Films he created awardwinning campaignsA veritable Renaissance Man he was the middle of three sons of Dr Jan Mohamed Sayani and Kulsum Sayani renowned social activist and proponent of Hindustani as a unifying language When the siblings visited London for the eldest Habib to explore further education he became a physician like their father Hamid was fascinated meeting a magician thereAadore Sayani at her cafe Sleight of Hand acknowledging her grandfatherrsquos felicity with tricks right Cast with Naju Wadia in the play Music at Night Pic CourtesyNoshir GobhaiAlkazi Theatre ArchivesFilmmaker and conjuror Jehangir Jean Bhownagary remembers Sayani perform magic tricks in his schooldays with precise craftsmanlike movements ldquoWe worked together perfecting a trick giving it a new twist simplifying it polishing itmdashbecause the best tricks have great simplicityrdquoHamidrsquos younger brother nonagenarian Ameen Sayani Binaca Geetmala was his star turn says ldquoDisciple assistant understudy prompter and oneboy test panel in everything he did I learned broadcasting compering and stagecraft from him But his interests were so varied his talents so enormous he could have taught carpentry chemistry electrical engineering English literature weightlifting and even ScoutmastershiprdquoSayanirsquos genius inspired generations ldquoHard to imagine a voice inform so much of your life Hamid Sayanirsquos is that for merdquo says Tariq Ansari ldquoWhen India had no private radio I was making the rounds in Delhi for the issuance of private FM licences The then Director General All India Radio Shashikant Kapoor asked lsquoWhy do you want this so muchrsquo I said lsquoSir I grew up listening to Hamid Sayani on Bournvita Quiz Contest to cricket with Vijay Merchant to Hawa Mahal each night with my grandmother and to Inspector Eagle I want to do radio If it means lying in the middle of the road and cars run over me for the privilege of doing that I willrsquoldquoI exaggerated The real reason was Hamid Sayani Sunday mornings were a long wait for the signature tune and voice introducing another edition of BQC For me the world began and ended with BQC That memory defined much of who I was who I wanted to be and what I eventually did in radiordquoOther hit programmes Sayani deftly anchored included Ovaltine Amateur Hour Pearline Paris Double or Quits Colgate Rang Tarang Polsonrsquos Kids Quiz Twenty Questions Photo Phantasy Personality Parade and Cadbury Amateur HourWith his brothersinlaw Ebrahim Alkazi and Deryck Jefferies Sayani proved one of three pillars of Theatre Group established by Sultan ldquoBobbyrdquo Padamsee His stage presence was versatile whether playing Claudius in Hamlet or Creon with Pheroza Cooper as Antigone Just 18 cast as Iago behind Sultan Padamseersquos Othello he dominated the play On the film front he essayed a small yet striking role in MerchantIvoryrsquos Shakespeare WallahExtremely close to Sayani and his wife Jerry Zarina Padamsee Sylvester da Cunha warmly describes their home on the top floor of Chhotu Terrace at Sassoon Dock Colaba as the cultural and social nerve centre of Theatre Group ldquoA lot of now mister bigs trudged up hundredodd steps to that tiny onebedroom flat There waited a meal for the hungry collegian a sympathetic ear for the lovelorn adolescent a word of cheer for the discouraged It was a place many of us still carry around Somewhere inside the Alyque Padamsees the Gerson da Cunhas the Ameen Sayanis lies a Chhotu Terrace maturing them to the people they sprouted out to becomerdquoDaughter Ayesha ldquoPoohrdquo Sayani recalls falling blissfully asleep to strains of Bach The music of an eclectic vinyl collection of Western and Indian classical jazz rock and pop boomed in their Oval Maidanfacing apartment from a giant floortoceiling speaker Hamid built himself ldquoWe sang a lot in the car driving anywhere My father dropped and picked me from school every single day A man with the most logical mind he loved science fiction and solving crossword puzzles and mathematical problems Having a way with people he never took advantage of anyone He was very honourableldquoWhen my daughter was a baby her grandfather produced coins from her tummy and she does today with her own cafe Sleight of Hand Only five when he died Aadore never got to leaf through the large green scrapbook that sat on our coffee table full of the things hersquod done in all the amazing fields he was involved in My brother Allan and I pored over itrdquoIn his article The Smiling Sorcerer choral maestro Victor Paranjoti noted ldquoAIRrsquos penury taught Hamid the value of economy in casting joyfully discovering he could act the parts of Cinderella the prince the wicked stepmother and the two ugly sisters by himself Graduating to a sort of Radio Frankenstein he was horrified that children nicknamed him Uncle HamrdquoSayani considered Nijinski his best original radio play To keep within budget for an adaptation of Jane Eyre he portrayed Rochester plus niftily mimicked sounds simulating horse hoofs footsteps creaking doors and raging firesWith an infinite capacity to please and ease Sayanirsquos dependable wit shone as master of ceremonies at innumerable public events Editor Gulshan Ewing commended his gentlemanly mannermdashldquoThe unmistakable remarkably resonant tone rang across the countryrsquos auditoriums for events like Eversquos Weekly beauty contests It had to be Hamid lucid impeccable always humorous never vulgar As a model retreated name mentioned mill identified dress described with a cigarette between her tapering fingers hersquod say lsquoThe cigarette is courtesy National Cancer Societyrsquo That tour de force was our handyman ideas man luggage sorter air tickets custodian and a solid trustworthy escort for the girls And a Show Saver Once the sound system failed in Madras Hamid came centrestage with humility he compered from backstage unlike his contemporaries holding the audience spellbound with magic and devastatingly funny storiesrdquoLauding the continuing legacy of his dear friend Gerson da Cunha says ldquoHamid Sayani is 95 One hesitates to use the past tense so lsquopresentrsquo is his memory His multitude of talents and general niceness make him unforgettable His pulling me into compering shows taught me much more than it helped him Memorably he had me announce the glistening events of the Scandinavian Ice Review He ran the Ovaltine Amateur Hour night after night over Radio Ceylon Goodnight sweet Hamid and to quote your sendoff Ovaltiny dreamsrdquoAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom