Children’s Day: Actors share their fondest childhood memories

MUMBAI: Childhood is a special time for everyone. This Children’s Day, we have a few actors sharing anecdotes from this special time.

Shridhar Watsar: I have many fond memories of my school days. I was not that fond of studying, but I remember the smell of new books. When school use to start and we usually got new books, I used to be so excited to cover those books. Happy Children's Day.

Ankit Bathla: I used to hate milk as a child, and obviously, my mom really wanted me to have milk. I would actually end up going and throwing milk at different places. This one time, I had just gone and spilled all the milk in a plant near our house, which happened to be a tulsi plant, which I didn’t realize. After some days, when my mom realized the plant was dying, she got very worried about this, and my sister went to mom and complained that Ankit has thrown milk in the plant, but mom didn’t believe her. But soon, I was caught and beaten up!

Aastha Chaudhary: When I was born, I was the only child in my close family. As I was the only child, so I was overprotected and pampered. After 7 years, my younger brother was born so I always say that until the age of 7, I was the only queen of my family, who used to rule her kingdom. I was a very sincere child and was good at everything, whether it was studies or extra activities. Being a girl from small-town, I had many restrictions as well.

Rehaan Roy: Childhood is the best part of our lives. Since I was the youngest kid of my family, I used to be pampered by everyone. I remember my grandfather used to give me one chocolate and one rupee coin every day before I went to school. For me, that was so exciting. I used to buy something or the other in school every day. Another thing that I miss is my grandma's stories. Every night, she used to tell me stories of kings and kingdoms. Though at that time, I used to think when will I grow up, but today, I wish I could remain a child forever.

Arun Mandola: There are lots of beautiful childhood memories. I remember winters during my childhood and being huddled up in a blanket. We would hate leaving bed. We used to enjoy watching Chitrahaar every Sunday and lots of other serials like Mogli, Chandrakanta, Sindbad, and Shaktiman. I used to play video games with my brother, and we would also go to the temple every Tuesday.

Shweta Rohira: As a child, I remember watching a lot of movies with my parents. We used to go every Friday to watch movies or would watch them on the VHS tapes at home. So, if I call myself a filmy chick, it’s all because of the way I have enjoyed movies with my mom and papa since the time I was a kid. I use to dance on all the new Hindi songs for them and also my mom uses to make outfits matching those in the film. My entire childhood has been very filmy, and I think since then, I had the nautanki in me. Where my brother is concerned, he was the best gift that I could have. He’s been like my baby and my child, as we have a huge age gap, and when he was born, he was my companion who would go with me everywhere, like my little bodyguard. Even if I had to go for a movie which no one wanted to see, he would come along, though I would have to bribe him that I'll give him permission to eat junk. So, he and I would land up going for movies where it would be only the two of us.

Mreenal Deshraj: I have loads and loads of stories, as I have 3 sisters and a brother, and we all were very close. We used to cover up each other’s faults and help protect each other from my dad, who was very strict. He was like a Hitler sometimes, so we used to be one strong group so that we could bluff him and do what we wanted to do. I was very active in sports and other activities drama, music, and dance. Our school had a play for Children’s Day, and my mom and dad were late, but when they came in and when I saw them, I forgot everything and was helped by my sister who was also in the play!

What is your fondest childhood memory?