Mandira Bedi on what was the lowest point in her marriage
It was on February 14, 1999, that actor Mandira Bedi, aka Shanti of the cult TV series, married directorproducer Raj Kaushal. She recalls how her husband has always been her “strength”, even though there was a phase that was the lowest in her marriage. Mandira, last seen in Saaho (2019) says, “Raj has always been a great encouragement to me. We have gone through some really rough patches as well. There was always a time when I was busier than him. That was a good part of our married life. But, a couple of years ago, he got as busy as me. That was not something I was used to, it was also something he wasn’t used to. And that’s when things went haywire, because suddenly I didn’t get the support I was used to. It upset the balance till we found a new equilibrium. But that was a very difficult phase and I didn’t talk to him for one month – that’s a long time to not to talk to the person you are living with... In fact, I’ve written one full chapter on marriage in my memoir, Happy for No Reason.”
Despite the ups and downs, for the last five years the couple has been hoping to adopt a girl child. “There has been no movement on that. Because our age together is over 90, we can only get a child of a certain age bracket; maybe that’s what’s causing the delay. My son is now eight years old, when we applied he was five... When I was pregnant, we decided if it’s a girl, we would name her Tara and if it’s a boy it would be Vir. We had a boy, so his name is Vir. Now we’re waiting for Tara!”