Pankaj Tripathi: Corona ne hum logon mein karuna jaga di hai, yehbahut achhi baat hai

Actor Pankaj Tripathi urges that amid the coronavirus pandemic, we should also show respect towards the farmers.

Getting to spend some rare family time, away from busy shooting schedules, Pankaj Tripathi is focusing on the positives in this moment of crisis. The actor is spending time cooking for and telling stories to daughter Aashi, something that he’s longing to do.

Pankaj Tripathi is focusing on the positives in this moment of crisis.

Apart from “cooking her favourite dishes such as nutrela chawal, aloo chokha and chana dal”, Tripathi is also helping her with her lessons. But most importantly, the father-daughter duo is “bonding over storytelling”.“Mujhe kahani sunaana achha lagta hai, aur logon ko sunna bhi. We all have grown up listening to stories from our grandparents and parents. Interestingly, all these stories would teach us something,” says Tripathi, adding that he’s also penning down tales for films.

The stories that he’s writing are for age agnostic. “Now that we don’t have much time, aur dadi, nani bhi bahut logon ke nahi hai toh woh kahani cinema ya web mein dekh ke khush hote hai. And in these difficult times, stories would give hope, they are good mood elevators. Storytelling is an art. I don’t know how good or bad I’m in it, but I enjoy weaving tales with a message,” he adds.

Tripathi is also planning to share his personal journey through 5-10-minute-long small videos, which may release on social media soon. He shares, “No one thought that a farmer’s son from a village will make it to films. I feel grateful that I could somehow fulfil my dream. People have often shown interest in my life’s story, maybe because they find it interesting, inspiring. Hence, this thought of sharing parts in videos,” says the 43-year-old.

While he’s doing his bit to help others during this Covid-19 crisis, he prefers to do it silently. “Corona ne hum logon mein karuna (compassion) jagayi hai, jo bahut achhi baat hai… Along with medical and paramedical workers, police, municipal workers, I think we should also show respect towards our farmers. It’s because of them that we’re getting food to eat. I also think more efforts should be made in making those who don’t have access to phones or TV, aware,” he ends.