Nakuul Mehta takes a road trip to Ladakh, visits Kargil Memorial with war veteran dad: He had tears in his eyes
Nakuul Mehta shares details of his 10-day road trip with father, retired Navy officer Pratap Mehta, across Srinagar, Leh and Ladakh
In Indian culture, father-son relationships are quite emotionally stunted and formal, but actor Nakuul Mehta challenged it recently as he took a 10-day road trip across Srinagar, Leh and Ladakh with his father, Pratap Singh Mehta. He says, “It’s the first time in my life when my father and I spent a fortnight together without the company of my mother, sister or my wife.”
The actor insists that “conventionally”, for men in his generation and a generation above, there is always a sense of formality and a line you don’t cross with fathers. But he got to see a different side of his dad through this trip. “My father was from the Indian Navy. He is also a war veteran from the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It’s been his dream to do a road trip across Ladakh and Kashmir. While it was beautiful to get to know him, he also got to see another side of me. I am sure there were areas of friction that both of us had but we were able to rise to the challenges.”
Talking about the road trip, Nakuul insists that seeing his father brave the tough situations in the mountains, including oxygen shortage and high altitudes, bravely, did inspire him. “To see him through these challenges and see how his mind works, I learnt a lot of things subconsciously. And him seeing me taking charge of the trip over those 10 days would have been amazing for him as well,” he says, revealing that they also went to the Kargil memorial on their trip. “I could see tears in my dad’s eyes when we were at the Kargil memorial. We met the batallion that captain Vikram Batra was with. They were stationed at Kargil 25 years back and they had returned just now, which happens very rarely. To see how all the martyrs are remembered and respected there, I felt so fortunate,” he shares.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the road trip, Nakuul insists that seeing his father brave the tough situations in the mountains, including oxygen shortage and high altitudes, bravely, did inspire him. “To see him through these challenges and see how his mind works, I learnt a lot of things subconsciously. And him seeing me taking charge of the trip over those 10 days would have been amazing for him as well,” he says, revealing that they also went to the Kargil memorial on their trip. “I could see tears in my dad’s eyes when we were at the Kargil memorial. We met the batallion that captain Vikram Batra was with. They were stationed at Kargil 25 years back and they had returned just now, which happens very rarely. To see how all the martyrs are remembered and respected there, I felt so fortunate,” he shares.
{{/usCountry}}Feeling emotionally fulfilled post the trip, Nakuul says, “I feel everyone should take time out to take a trip with their parents to get to know them better, not just as parents, but as a human being.” The actor concludes saying, “Hopefully, next year I’ll go on an all-boys trip with my father and son.”
