He is known as the "unluckiest man on earth".
But you would struggle to find a trace of bitterness when meeting ex-Beatle Pete Best who on the contrary calls himself the "luckiest man on earth" blessed as he is with a loving family and "being a part of rock n' roll history."
Best may have only played a bit part in the Beatles story.
But the 1941 Chennai-born Best is today one of only three surviving members of the legendary rock group that took the world by storm for a decade before breaking up in 1970, though they continue to top the charts worldwide. Another original member, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe died in Hamburg in 1962 at the age of 21.
Best says he has few memories of-then Madras (the family left for Eng land in 1945), though he recalls playing the tabla at home with the family servants, a precursor perhaps to his famed drumming skills. Remarkably, he is returning to the land of his birth for the first time in 64 years. Best's story is one of the most poignant in the history of rock --being dumped in 1962 and replaced on the drums by Ringo Starr on the eve of the Beatles first major recording deal after playing with them for three years and performing over 1,000 songs.
No explanation was ever given to Best though the most credible theory was his huge popularity with female fans in Liverpool due to his dashing good looks which made the rest of the band jealous.
Best is in New Delhi as part of the `Imagine Liverpool Festival' organised by the Visit Britain tourism board. And in a touch of instant karma, on Tuesday here at the British Council, he became the first Beatle to perform on Indian soil in front of a select audience with his Pete Best Band belting out favourites from `One After 909' to `I Saw Here Standing There.' Not only Pete, his mother Mona (born in New Delhi in 1924) too played a part in the Beatles early years.
"Mo (as Pete refers to his late mother) is one of rock's unsung heroes," says the famed drummer recalling the events of 50 years ago as if they were yesterday. "She set up the Casbah club in the cellar of our house in Liverpool and it still stands today as it was then and is listed as a heritage site."
"John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and I helped Mo paint the Casbah with Indian motifs since Mo always had a strong feel for her roots," explained Pete.
"She would tell these Liverpool lads, who had barely ventured out of their own town, exotic Indian tales which particularly fascinated George. I feel the strong attachment to Indian music and mysticism which became such an important part of George's later life was fired up by Mo".
It was when the Beatles made the first of their two visits to Hamburg, Germany in August 1960 that Best joined the band. Exactly two years later, his part in the phenomenal Beatles saga had come to an abrupt end.
Pete never came face-to-face with his bandmates after 1962, though there have been some close shaves over the years. "Paul enquires about my whereabouts occasionally and John would often visit Mo at home in the 60s after the split. But somehow I was never around when he dropped in."
In 1967, Lennon requested Mo to loan him her father's wartime medals for the famous cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, considered one of the greatest of all time.
With fans at Tuesday's show ranging from enthusiastic preteens to diehard over-50s Beatles fans, it was an evening to cherish.