I read this few days ago. Since I wasn’t in high spirits, so I didn’t share it. But it definitely makes for good reading.
Acclaimed actor Om Puri is enormously upset with his wife, journalistcolumnist Nandita for highlighting some of his most private sexual incidents to market her biography, Unlikely Hero: The Story Of Om Puri.
In her book, the author has elaborately penned Om Puri’s sexual relationship with two of her maids. The actor first had sexual encounter with his maidservant when he was only 14-year-old, later on he developed emotional bonding with her another maid Laxmi, with whom he also had long standing sexual relationship.
A discernibly upset Om said, “I don’t care if she’s my wife. I won’t let her get away with it. I am in Chandigarh shooting for a film. On Monday I heard Nandita speaking about the biography she has written on me. I was shocked by her revelations. It was so cheap. She was talking about my sexual encounters as though those were my biggest achievements!”
Om’s main reason for being upset is Nandita’s revelation that he had sex with his maid Shanti at the age of 14. She has also exposed Om’s longstanding liaison with a woman named Laxmi with whom Om was sexually and emotionally involved.
“My wife has reduced a very important and sacred part of my life to cheap and lurid gossip. I had shared these dark secrets with my wife as all husbands do. If she chose to make them public at least she should’ve made sure to maintain a dignity about experiences that are a valuable part of my life. Has she forgotten that I have a standing in society and I’ve worked hard to achieve all that I have today? I won’t allow her to throw it all away for the sake of sensationalism.”
Om says that Laxmi was one of the most important women in his life. “This lady whom Nandita talks in such an undignified manner was Laxmi, who raised me and my brother’s orphaned children. My relationship with this wonderful woman was a homage to her loyalty for looking after me unconditionally.”
Om doesn’t deny he had sex with Laxmi. “But it was not a furtive and sleazy experience. It was beautiful. Why make such a tamasha out of these very sensitive moments? Mahatma Gandhi spoke of his experiences with sexuality in The Story of My Experiments With Truth. But was that all there was to his life? Why highlight these aspects when there’s so much more to me? Do you know, when I was a child, I was travelling by train with my destitute mother. The entire compartment collected money to feed us. That incident remains etched in my mind. I was working in a teashop when I was seven years old. When I came to the FTII, Pune I didn’t have a decent shirt to wear. I had to borrow one from Naseeruddin Shah. I had hoped when my life was chronicled it would be an inspirational story.”
Om says his wife insisted on writing his biography. “I was aware that another lady (Aparajita Krishna) was writing my biography. When Nandita expressed a desire to write about me I couldn’t stop her because she’s my wife but she has forgotten who she is,” added Om.
The actor complains that Nandita didn’t allow him to read the manuscript. “Not once did she let me read even one page of the manuscript. How was I to know how she would use the incidents from my life to sell her book?”
When we promised to be discreet in putting forward his anguish and humiliation, Om retorted, “Please don’t be discreet. Has she exercised any discretion in talking about my personal experiences? The final decision to put my life up as a tamasha was Nandita’s. I can’t forgive her.”
When we asked Nandita for her side of the story, she said, “This is all such a mistake. My book on my husband is a biography, not bl***y pornography. The book is about Om, the man and the actor. Om has all the human foibles, just like all of us. He had sex as an adolescent with his maid and then he had a long liaison with the other lady who was also a maid. This was his way of coming out of his other relationships and demolishing class differences. If Om has any objection to her being called a maid he’s just being unrealistic.”
So are his sexual experiences an integral part of the book? “They are,” admitted Nandita. “But that’s not all.” Apparently, the broadcast journalist who interviewed Nandita picked up excerpts from a weekly news magazine. “She called me on her show and for 20 minutes she spoke only about Om’s sexual escapades. When I thought she’d question me about other aspects of Om’s life in the book, the show was over. I was horrified. I was even more horrified when I saw the show,” added Nandita.
Yesterday morning, Nandita received a very angry call from Om who is in Chandigarh . “He was livid. The double escapades with the two maid servants has made Om feel he’ll be compared to Shiney Ahuja. Now my husband is angry, my publishers are upset and so am I,” said Nandita.
My comment:
I have never been able to understand as to why men tell everything to their sweethearts. Yeah I admit whatever we are today, we just can’t ignore the past, cause that actually make us who we are today. I have heard such stories a number of times. Sometimes men get drunk & they start blabbing out & usually those women can’t help telling others those secrets. I can’t call it amusing as revealing somebody’s secret in a book is not a good idea & that too when the person is annoyed with the revelation.
I think staying in the present is always far better. But then it seems discussing the past & the future is inevitable when a sweetheart is involved. And when something is inevitable, the price too would be high.
I haven’t forgotten that honesty is the best policy. I don’t like it when someone lies to me or keeps playing those never-ending stupid games. In a relationship, it’s better that you are honest, but some things are just for us & those things usually include fun things done with spontaneity & some remarkable sexual experiences. I really don’t see the point of telling everything to any one particular individual. That’s a sure sign that you might get into trouble some time.
I once read about this guy who was a virgin & his girlfriend had too many guys, & he said that he didn’t feel like touching her as he felt bad & she seemed all used up. I think he was typical. He didn’t realize that experienced people are invariably more fun. I also happen to know females who are in search of virgins.
Although this is beside the point but I often read that painting a virgin is just like sleeping with one. Which means if you haven't slept with one, you must paint one; it amounts to the same thing. If you have experienced it, just don’t tell your wife…or husband.
