Happy  Birthday, Katrina Kaif!

Dear  Katrina,

We once were  friends,  very close. You spoke honestly with me. But then you began to feel I was more a journalist than a friend to you. And  you were probably right. We  drifted apart. We no longer speak to another. But I’ve never stopped wishing  you well.  Never stopped believing that if anyone deserves true love it’s you.

Unfortunately  you haven’t been lucky in love. Not if you count the number  of times your heart has been broken. Two only. But it seem a  lot more. The first man you loved (actually the second, I remember you telling me there was a man before you came  into the  film industry)  was Salman  Khan. He looked after  you and  the  relationship evolved into something far beyond a conventional  man-woman  relationship. You couldn’t marry Salman because you looked up to him.

The second relationship was doomed to be a disaster.  I was around when you began to  lose  your heart to this chap who is  known to win hearts and shatter them. I tried to warn you. But like all the people in love,  you were beyond reason. Instead, you tried to convince me that he  was the right choice. I remember that evening when I called  you and  you handed over the phone to  the love of your life. The conversation was  stilted and suspicious. Your men never liked me.

When he  broke your heart I felt your grief. You are  a beautiful person with a heart  of  gold. You  deserve to  be loved more than all of us. You have a heart that wants to just give give and  give. I wish you would  soon find someone  worthy of you. You  always felt I was  rude to you. But I just didn’t want your heart to be  broken.

Why do the most beautiful women fall for men who do not deserve them? I asked Zeenat Aman that once. I ask you the same question on your birthday.

Remain beautiful, Ms Kaif. It isn’t a quality that comes easily to anyone.

Your friend and  well-wisher.