In Bed With Vivek Oberoi

The actor shows off his collection of books on a sunny winter afternoon in his four poster bed in his Mumbai home

The actor, who has successfully played a gangster in many films, prefers to envelop his bedroom in a peaceful aura. Vivek has inherited his dad, Suresh Oberoi’s spiritual leanings, and wakes up ‘super early’ in the morning to revel in the quiet, intermittently broken by the chirping of birds. The bedroom for him is strictly a place for “us time”, he reveals.

Vivek Oberoi reads in his bedroom in Mumbai during the photoshoot for this column (Prabhat Shetty)

List three things nobody knows about you.

I sometimes get emotional and cry when I watch animation movies with my kids. I wake up super early every morning and feed the birds in my garden, and I am a struggling minimalist.

Do you like watching TV in the bedroom?

We don’t have a TV in our bedroom!

Any bedtime stories you share with your kids?

I am a master storyteller! I enjoy whipping up stories from my imagination for them. I try to throw in a morality lesson or a cultural value here and there, but mainly entertain them!

A bedtime habit that you’ve recently developed...?

Spending two minutes practising gratitude. It started with asking my kids to thank Bhagwan every night. While teaching them gratitude, I learnt it myself.

One relationship rule you always follow...?

Respect. Everything else is flexible.

What is the coolest thing about being an actor?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist, an astronaut, a racecar driver... but now being an actor, I get to do it all!

What is the last thing you do before going to bed?

Say a prayer of gratitude. A little conversation with God. Earlier, I would always be thinking about what I have to do the next day, sleeping with thoughts of pending action. I sleep much better now.

Describe yourself in a hashtag.

#BlissJunkie

Bedside stories

What’s your favourite breakfast in bed?

Warm toast with melting butter.

Your preferred side of the bed and why?

The left side of the bed, as it faces the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and I love waking up with my eyes half-open, peering out into our garden and watching the sunlight caress the leaves.

What’s on your bedside table?

Books and essential oils.

What do you wear to bed?

A mulmul kurta-pyjama, the softness is a dream in itself.

From HT Brunch, January 17, 2021

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