By Sunil Sonker
Mussoorie, 29 Sep: At a programme organised by Mussoorie Sports Club Association at the residence of famous international referee Nand Kishore ‘Bamboo’ here, today, tribute was paid to famous actor Tom Alter on his 7th death anniversary by offering floral tributes.
On this occasion, President of Mussoorie Sports Association Surat Singh Rawat, Roopchand Guruji, Nandlal Sonkar, Raju and others said that Tom Alter was from Mussoorie and many of his memories are associated with the town. He played various types of characters in films and established his identity in the film industry.
It was recalled that Tom Alter was also a sports journalist from 1980 to 1990. He was the first journalist who interviewed Sachin Tendulkar on TV. At the same time, he was also fond of sports. Alter was very fond of Mussoorie and whenever he got some free time from his work, he would come to live here. He was also active in social work in Mussoorie. He had opposed the demolition of the historic clock tower by the Municipal Council. For this, he had staged a one-day protest at the clock tower site. After this, the administration constructed the clock tower.
It was Tom Alter’s dream to construct a sports ground in Mussoorie. He continuously tried to get a stadium built, but Mussoorie’s Bhiladoo stadium remains a distant dream. He also used to organise a half marathon in Mussoorie every year. His dream was to organize a 41-km full mountain marathon, but that dream could not be fulfilled. It was stated that the people of Mussoorie are constantly trying to fulfil Tom Alter’s dreams. There was also a suggestion on the occasion that many famous personalities are associated with Mussoorie for whom a museum should be built in their memory. The coming generation should know about them.
Present on the occasion were Nandlal Sonkar, BS Negi, Jagbir Bhandari, Raju Shah, Rajkumar, Sanjay Tamta, Isha Vaishya, Ankit Vaishya, Tarun Sonkar, Saurabh Sonkar, etc.
Tom Alter was born on 22 June 1950 in Mussoorie. His family was divided into two parts after the partition. In 1916, his grandparents came to Madras (Chennai) from America and after a few years settled in Lahore, Pakistan. After the partition, Tom Alter’s grandparents chose to live in Pakistan and Tom Alter’s parents came to India. Tom Alter looked completely English by appearance, but contrary to his looks, he was so good at speaking Hindi that he was called the brand ambassador of India. Along with Hindi, Tom Alter also had a strong grip on the Urdu language.
