Dehradun, Oct. 28 -- Piyush Pandey was undoubtedly a gifted creator. In his passing, India has lost an extraordinary mind. For many decades now, I have been a quiet admirer of his work.

I have vivid childhood memories of going to see films in the Rialto Cinema, Mussoorie, during the decade of the 1960s with my family. Those days, there were no televisions in small Indian towns and watching films in cinema halls was still a fascinating experience. Before the film began, there used to be projection of a "News Reel" of about five minutes duration, which used to be a compilation of government related news produced by the Department of Information and Broadcasting. It was followed by the screening of various commercial advertisements.

I stil...