‘I WILL SPEND MY BIRTHDAY ALONE’
Eijaz Khan says he wants to celebrate his birthday all by himself, this year. Adds that he wants to take ‘baby steps’ to improve his life
Iam not a big birthday person,” says Eijaz Khan, who will turn a year older today. “I have social anxiety and usually I don’t know what to do when I am in the spotlight (laughs), even though my job involves being in the spotlight. I would rather be left alone or with very few close people, who don’t judge me,” he says.
This year, Eijaz isn’t keen on partying or have any sort of get together. He wants to be on his own. “I’ve always been very weird about my birthday. I have realised that my biggest fear is being alone, so to overcome this, on my birthday this year, I will be alone possibly without my phone, too. I love camping in the forest so I will probably just pick up my bike and take off, without giving a damn about what people will think or say. As you grow older, you realise that you don’t have to please everybody or that you can’t please everybody. I will be all by myself this birthday.”
As he turns 43, Eijaz admits that he doesn’t dwell on memories. He says birthdays are another reason to celebrate life with our loved ones. “Earlier, it was all about spending it with someone special but the last two to three years have been a haze. I don’t remember much and I am happy with my selective memory. I’ve always lived my life without a plan but that phase is over for me. Now, I want to have a mission every day, take baby steps, and change my life,” says the actor, who recently shot for a web series with director Nagesh Kukunoor.
Recently, Eijaz spoke about his difficult childhood, his dating experience and going to therapy on a TV chat show, which generated a lot of buzz, as his love life became a focal point. “I spoke about the loved ones, who were an important part of my life but are married now. What I spoke on the talk show about the fact that I regret cheating on someone, was misinterpreted and turned into something else. And so was my statement about going for therapy. There are a few things that happened in my life that have left a mark. I go for therapy to understand the patterns and how to break out of them, how to deal with the addictions including social media, need for validation, wanting to be liked all the time and not being able to say ‘no’. I have learnt a lot about myself in therapy.”
I have realised that my biggest fear is being alone, so to overcome this, on my birthday this year, I will be alone possibly without my phone. EIJAZ KHAN, ACTOR