Anupam Kher honours mother in emotional Humans of Bombay post, recalls she sold her jewellery to put him through school

Anupam Kher has spoken about his mother, and the sacrifices she made to ensure that her children could lead happy lives. Read the note here.

Actor Anupam Kher in a Humans of Bombay social media post spoke about the influence his mother has had on him. He recalled important lessons that she's taught him over the years, and how they've shaped him into the person that he is today.

The post, shared online on Wednesday, had several pictures and videos, some from Anupam's personal collection. The actor routinely shares videos of his mother on social media, usually accompanied with the hashtag, 'Dulari rocks'.

He mentioned the hashtag again in his story. The post quoted him as saying, "I have vivid memories of Mom dropping me to school. Before leaving, she’d say, ‘Your best day is today.’ And as a kid, I believed it. It helped me dream; made me forget how poor we were. Papa only made 90 Rs. a month, so Mom had to sell her jewellery to put us into good schools. But I was terrible at studies, so Mom was worried. If Papa was lenient, she’d say, ‘Zyada tareef mat karo (Don't praise him)’; she wanted to keep us focused. Mom was responsible for shaping me as a person–I was 10 when a Sadhu came to school; Mom gave me 5 paise to give him. But I spent 2 paise & kept the rest in my bag. When Mom asked, I lied."

The actor said that his mother didn't let him inside the house until he confessed. And when he did, she told him never to do it again.

He continued, "Her values were all I had when I came to Mumbai to be an actor with ₹37. At times I’d sleep on the platform, but never told her & when Mom fell sick, she didn't tell me; we both tried to protect each other. And after I started doing films, Mom kept me grounded, ‘No matter how high you fly, always be humble.’ After Papa’s death, we became close–she’d lost her partner & I, my best friend. On his choutha, I said, ‘Instead of mourning, let’s celebrate his life’. We wore colourful clothes & invited a rock band. We narrated our fond memories with Papa; Mom said, ‘I didn’t know I was married to such a wonderful man.’"

Anupam concluded, "After, we became best friends–she'd accompany me to award ceremonies & chat with my friends. Once, while she was saying something, I filmed her without her knowledge & posted it online–it went viral! So, I started uploading her videos regularly. She didn’t know she was being filmed, so she’d talk about everything under the sun–be it her bahu ki burai or her hair fall problem. Soon, she became so popular that random people would ask–‘How is #dularirocks?’ And Mom didn’t know about it until people started recognising her on the streets–they’d ask for selfies! She wasn’t used to so much attention, so she confronted me, ‘Kya karta rehta hai tu (What do you keep doing)?’ Now she’s become more vigilant, so I’ve started filming her sneakily. But whenever she sees me, the first thing she asks is, ‘Aaj camera kaha chupake rakha hai (Where have you hidden your camera?’”

The actor's mother was diagnosed with the coronavirus last year, and he made sure to keep his fans updated with her progress.

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