Divya Dutta hopes she gets an off today from work, to ring in her birthday the way she prefers: with her loved ones, at home.
“I have been shooting in Rishikesh. But the one birthday ritual I love is to have the family home. I tell everyone ‘listen, if I am back home from work even for half a day, I want to spend quality time with you’ Half of the time I am with my brother, then with my bhabhi and her friends. That feeling of being pampered is very nice, and important. It’s a special day for me, and all my friends know this. It’s sweet 16 for me,” chuckles Divya, who will be seen next in a host of films, including one with Manoj Bajpayee.
Hitting 48 today, we ask what is it that keeps Divya motivated to keep moving ahead in life with the same zest. Does the number on the board slow her down in any manner, or prohibit her from pampering herself?
“I think it’s the mental frame of mind. When you are constantly doing something, reinventing yourself, you don’t stay in the same phase where you feel low. Mera mere friends group mein mazaak udta hai ‘yeh tikti toh hai nahi!’ So I like it that way. But the thing is amidst those busy schedules, you have got to thank yourself. We underestimate a word called gratitude… towards everyone else, yes, but even towards yourself. ‘Me time’ where you pamper yourself for working hard should not be underestimated. Don’t keep yourself second. Jab khud ko khush rakhoge tabhi doosron ko khush rak paaoge,” says the actor.
Divya is part of a friend group which consists of actors such as Shabana Azmi, Urmila Matondkar, Vidya Balan, and many more. Do they make it a point to be there for her special day? “We are all globe trotting. Recently it was Shabana ji’s 75th birthday, so everyone manoeuvres plans according to all this. But the beauty is, when the 10-11 of us probably are not available together, whoever is, we all try meeting. We play it by the ear, and these impromptu plans turn out to be the most cathartic,” she ends.
