MID-DAY (July 10, 2016)

"Aapko malum hai, is umar mein toh davai khani padti hai (You know, at this age, you have to take medicines),” says veteran music director and Padma Bhushan awardee Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi — better known as Khayyam — as he downs a few pills. He laughs at his own joke, before letting us in on the eateries that he used to frequent, when he was young. “Now, I eat homecooked food, but when I was single, I would visit Sarvi at Nagpada and Kareem’s at Mohammed Ali Road. Till date, I enjoy a drink or two.”

Today, at the ripe age of 90, Khayyam begins his day at 6.15 am, listening to the gurbani (compositions of the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib), and the Quran. “This routine gives me strength. Even the importance of food is mentioned in these texts. One should eat only 70 per cent of one’s appetite for better digestion. Secondly, you should share your food with outsiders and visitors,” adds Khayyam, whose breakfast at 10 am comprises a glass of Bournvita, an onion and tomato omelette and a date. “I also have a spoonful of Chyawanprash. In my younger days, I ate for pleasure. Today, I eat for life,” he adds.

Lunch at 2.30 pm includes a vegetable, a non-veg dish (he has given up mutton and prefers chicken) prepared by his cook of 30 years, Nirmala. “I also have a bowl of dal, along with rotis.” Dinner includes leftovers from lunch or a new spread of home-cooked fare, at 9 pm sharp.

Once crazy about laddoos, Khayyam has long given them up. “If it comes as prasad, I take a small piece,” he adds. But, what the legendary artiste most craves for is Gujarati food. Film director Chandulal Shah first introduced him to the cuisine. Khayyam also recalls relishing food made by late actor Sanjeev Kumar’s mother. “No one was allowed in her kitchen, except for my wife, Jagjit Kaur.” “I loved the dhokla she made,” 86-year-old Kaur chips in. She leaves us with another food nugget. “Singer Mukesh loved my kebabs. And Khayyam saab would schedule recordings in such a way that he could stay back for them.”