Raj Kapoor's fans in a quaint Turkish town still sing Awara Hoon; throng to meet his wife Krishna on her recent visit there

Rima Jain, her mother Krishna Raj Kapoor and other members of their family were in for a huge surprise when they visited Turkey recently.

They were on a cruise and the liner docked at Kusadasi, a resort town on the Aegean coast of the country. Much to their surprise, the locals there recognised Krishna. "You Raj Kapoor wife (sic)!" they yelled. The locals then began singing Awara Hoon and other songs from the showman's films.

Twenty two years after Raj Kapoor passed away, his family continues to meet his fans from all over the world. "Often we meet locals of different cities who come up to us but Kusadasi is a quaint town and we found folks there too who were my dad's fans, " says Rima. "We were there for barely a day and yet we found his followers."

Delighted
Adds Rima, "My mother was delighted with the warmth. My brothers and sister were there too. All of us were thrilled to see their sweet gestures." The local media too picked up the story and sent a photographer to meet Mrs Kapoor and carried an article on her.

Her proud daughter recalls another incident that occurred several years ago. "We were in New York in a taxi. The driver was a Russian and he recognised mom. He refused to let us pay the fare and instead, insisted he wanted to meet dad who was accompanying us on that trip, " she says.