Kaifi Azmi his daughter's guide to love and strength

Abba was always different a fact that didn’t sit too easily on my young shoulders, says Shabana Azmi

(Web Desk) - Generally we talk about the lovely relationship between a mother and her children, but the way Shabana Azmi opened up about the attachment the celebrity holds with the memories of her father Kaifi Azmi, does great justice to the bond between a father and his daughter.

The gorgeous legendary actress in a recent interview expressed that how Kaifi Azmi had taught her to be resilient and strong along with cherishing the beauty of life and the true essence of love. All children bear a special connection with their fathers. It’s a relationship that showers love on them along with being a window to the harsh realities of the world.

The actress shared that how as a kid she felt embarrassment in telling her school mates that her father is a poet. She expressed that as a girl it was hard for her to understand the uniqueness of his personality.

Shabana Azmi shared in the interview that, “Abba was always different, a fact that didn’t sit too easily on my young shoulders.”

“I lied that he did some vague ‘business’! What on earth did a ‘poet’ mean – a euphemism for someone who did no work?” she went on saying.

She admitted that later on it came to her that Kaifi Azmi was no ordinary person. He was a man, who challenged the world with words of enlightenment. In his writings he spoke realities for people surviving through life.

“One day a friend of mine said that her father had read my father’s name in the newspaper. That did it. I owned him up at once. Of all the 40 children in my class, only my father’s name had appeared in the newspaper. I perceived his being ‘different; as a virtue for the first time,” she said.

Further talking about her father’s personality the celebrity mentioned how he understood that the women in our world face many difficulties and hence he stood with the thought of providing them with opportunities to grow and groom.

The actress stated, “His iconic poem ‘Aurat’ about gender equality was not just a fancy idea. His relationship with his wife, daughter and daughter-in-law (actor Tanvi Azmi) was a living testament to his respect for gender parity.”

She also talked about the socialist inside his father, who felt for the workers as he had also lived and worked with them. Therefore his famous piece of writing ‘Makaan’ was a tribute to those days of his life.

“Kaifi used to lie around on a charpoy in Madanpura in Mumbai, whilst working with the Mazdoor Kisan unions. What he observed first-hand became the basis of his famous nazm ‘Makaan’. It was about injustice meted out to the construction worker. Someone, who with his blood and sweat makes a fancy building, but is not allowed to enter once it’s completed,” said Shabana Azmi.

The legendary actress further expressed that it was not just the element of strength that her father has passed on to her, but also the feeling of true love and respect. She does not consider herself a romantic but the concept of love for her revolves around mutual respect and care for one another.

She shared that, “My mother was an incurable romanticist and full of tales of how Kaifi wooed her with his dreamy looks and beautiful poetry. But it was their strong comradeship in the later years that made me realize that love is what remains when the first flush of romance fades,” adding that, “I don’t believe I’m a romantic. But I am deeply in love with Javed (Akhtar) even 37 years after we got married.”

The celebrity’s recollection of her father’s memories and the personality attributes she has attained from him, makes one feel the love and care a father holds for a daughter by giving her the courage to manage through the bitter and sweet in life.