/> Saif is Saif. Therefore indefinably bewildered by and yet resilient towards the knocks of life.

Barely a week since stories of his illness broke out and swamped the print and electronic media, he's back on his feet.

"There's bad news and good news," says Saif. "The bad news is that it was a blod clot in my heart. The good news is that it's been fully cured. The cardiologist came on Saturday morning to take my ECG test ...and it was all clear. Now I'm free to go home."

Saif left Leelavati hospital on Sunday. "But I'll have to take it easy for a while. Nothing strenuous and certainly no smoking any more. In fact my doctors told me my condition was brought on entirely by smoking. It causes deposits in the artery which caused that clot. I've decided to quit smoking completely."

Today Saif and his heart have become best friends. "Yeah, you can say that again. It's been a time of revelation for me. Though I came out unscathed, this hospital experience served up a healthy warning for me. I need to correct a few things in my life, mainly the smoking.

There I was, with genuinely ill people, people who were suffering from cancer and chronic heart ailments. It just made me so conscious of my own life and my responsibilities."

The ceaseless surge of concern as moved Saif. " I was so glad to see my family and so many of my friends from the film industry visiting me in hospital. I now intend to use my rest period writing each of them a personal thank you note."

So has the experience made Saif more compassionate? "I guess so. I never visited anyone in the hospital. Now I've decided to change that. It matters so much to have people who care for you when you're down."

Saif's one immediate regret. "I couldn't host the Filmfare awards. In fact it would take me a couple of weeks to get back to normal."