“I watched Gregory Peck play General MacArthur in the hollywood movie MacArthur. General MacArthur was the greatest american general in the second world war. The Japanese surrendered in front of him. And I have never seen a man who had a pipe stuck to his lips forever. Even in the battles, you could see him smoking the pipe commanding live. What shocked me most was that even in front of the american president he was smoking his pipe. Normally you don’t smoke in front of presidents and royalty. You don’t dare but here was general MacArthur with his pipe blaring away. That stuck in my mind.”

And your bow-tie?
“One of my all time favorite hollywood movie is Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart plays the lead. I love the movie. Humphrey Bogart in many scenes sported a bow tie. He was my inspiration.”

Your suit?
“Dilip Kumar. You see, I didn’t want to follow the flop. I want to make on thing clear. I am not a narcissist. I don’t wear a bow-tie and my suit and my pipe just to impress people. It is what I am. And I feel most comfortable in it. And it is part of my personality. See I am a literary person. I love poetry. So somehow the bow tie, the suit and the pipe are a part of the puzzle, a paradox if you may. You don’t dress up for people, you dress up for your self.”

*Also read next story.
– Sudarshan Prasad Gauchan, Met him near Baluwatar, Kathmandu