ME A ‘IT TOOK TO LONG TIME COME HERE’
NLongevity is tough to achieve in showbiz and Kajol is someone who has managed it quite well. In her almost 30-year-old career, which started with Bekhudi (1992), the actor has kept reinventing herself and says she is grateful that she is still loved by the audience.
“I am lucky and I believe it has to do with how much you love yourself and how much you believe in yourself. I think it has to do with how ot just as a sportsperson, even as a human being I expected to be treated with a little dignity,” says Manu Bhaker, India’s Tokyo Olympics medal prospect. Bhaker recently alleged she and her mother were mistreated by airline employees at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, while trying to board a flight to Bhopal, but an Air India statement has denied it.
“On 19th (February) I was travelling to Bhopal with my mother, to a training camp. Despite having all the documents, the officials mistreated us, making us look like criminals trying to board a flight and bypass rules. I was carrying clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for travelling with my weapons and ammunition. Initially they did not accept the DGCA letter, and asked me to furnish one from the National Rifle Association of India. I arranged for it on mail and was allowed to check-in. But when boarding, my mother and I were insulted and asked to pay ₹10,200,” the 19-year-old says.
Bhaker, who tweeted for help to the aviation and sports ministers, boarded the flight after government intervention. Talking from Bhopal, Bhaker says it’s not about the money, but the way she was treated. “When I told them main Olympics mein khelti hun aur regularly fly karti hun, one official said, ‘Humein koi farak nahi padta... Paise dene mein itni dikkat nahi honi chahiye’. It is a form of bribe to force us to pay when we have documents excusing us,” she says.
The airline tweeted that its employees were asking her for relevant documents or pay the charges. Bhaker, preparing for the ISSF World Cup from March 18-29 in New Delhi, says she hopes no athlete has to face the ordeal. “Even if our documents are incomplete, there is a way to communicate that to us,” she says.
PShooter honest you are to your work. I don’t think it would work if I kept living on my laurels. I just had to keep working and thinking about what lies in the future rather than living in the past,” shares the 46-year-old.
“I like myself the way I am today. It took me a long time to come here. I like who I am, like my hair, like me as I am even though I am not a size zero and, you know, all of it put together. You like me, you don’t like me, I am fine with it, too,” she says.
Over the years while it has been a constant journey of self discovery and self improvement, Kajol, who
NOTE TO READERS: Some of the coverage that appears on our pages is paid for by the concerned brands. No sponsored content does or shall appear in any part of HT without it being declared as such to our valued readers. recently starred in the web film Tribhanga, says her process of choosing a project has remained the same. “I always look for a good script, good characters to play. It should be like a good book. It should be that kind of script that I can’t put down,” the actor reveals.
However, there is just one thing she is mindful of in her career now. “I want to work with better directors. I want somebody experienced enough to take something out of me that maybe I couldn’t have expected. I don’t want to bear the burden completely on my shoulder,” she adds.