Shabana Azmi reflects on her experience as a caregiver to her parents.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi, 74, recently opened up about ageing and memory loss, revealing how she and her husband Javed Akhtar stay active through artistic pursuits that keep them active. She also reflected on her experience as a caregiver to her parents – noted poet Kaifi Azmi and theatre actor Shaukat Azmi – who were reluctant to seek help despite their health struggles.
Speaking to India Today about finding happiness in old age, Shabana said, “Since we are creative people, we luckily have work to look forward to. We don’t think about it consciously every day, but we are aware of the fact that slowly our abilities are declining, especially memory. Naam toh kisi ka yaad hi nahin rehta hai.” Shabana recalled that her father had a brain stroke, which left half of his body paralysed. Despite his struggles, he was reluctant to seek assistance. “Although he could walk with the help of a stick, his left arm and leg were disabled. When he walked, people would come to help him, and he would get irritated. Half the time it was because people didn’t know which hand to hold.
They would hold the same hand with which they held the stick, which hindered his movement,” Shabana recalled. Shabana attributed her parents’ individualism and independence to their proud and self-reliant nature. The Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani actor added, “It was hard for them to accept me as a caregiver, because they were both very independent individuals.
They never knew they would need any kind of support. So, coming from fierce independence and then accepting it as a way of life… I was extremely sensitive to the fact that it was a huge change for them.”
On the professional front, Shabana recently received a lot of praise for her role in the critically acclaimed web show, Dabba Cartel. She is also set to star in Sunny Deol’s much-anticipated film Lahore 1947.
