When I overcame stammering

A page from the personal diary of Sharad Kelkar I remember the day when I first came to Mumbai on July 4, 2002. I came down from Gwalior with only Rs 1000 in my pocket. I got down at Dadar station at around seven in the morning and had nowhere to go. Finally I managed to contact a close friend of mine who provided me with shelter. I stayed with 15 other people in his three-room flat for the next three years. Though they were tough days I do miss those wonderful days. The moment I saw this beautiful city of Mumbai I loved the ambience and got positive vibes. I knew that the place belonged to me. Since then my stay in this city has been a wonderful one. Furthermore, I can never forget the day when I met Keerti on the sets of Aakrosh. The moment I saw her something sparked within me and I knew she was the one for me. Though nothing really happened for the next one year but finally things started materialising and we got married. Keerti’s face has a strange kind of innocence that is appealing and intriguing at the same time. I think having Keerti in my life is truly a blessing for me. The sad part is that my profession doesn’t allow me to go on a long holiday. But last year I did go to South Africa for 15 days with Keerti and my close friends. Till date it has been the best holiday of my life. We had great fun and when we were leaving, a friend of mine who stays in South Africa started crying. I can never forget that moment as it made me realise the importance of attachment. My journey professionally has been a very fruitful one. I have been quite lucky as an actor as I got to work with the best of directors, producers and actors. There are many who are very talented but struggle to get work. I think my biggest achievement in life was to overcome the problem of stammering. I stammered from childhood and no one ever thought that I would overcome it and become an actor. But I worked hard and finally conquered it. I used to put pencils and fingers in my mouth while talking in order to regulate my speech. But the most important thing is to develop confidence while speaking. Generally one tends to speak quite fast while stammering which is wrong. One must speak as slowly as possible and pronounce each word properly and loudly so that the tongue gets used to different word formations. It took a year for me to control stammering since I started practicing but I still stutter when I get angry. I still remember that for the first time when my mom saw me saying dialogues on screen she called me and said, “Arrey, tu hakla nahin raha hain.” I want to thank all my loved ones who helped me overcome my speech disorder. I also want to thank my fans for loving and supporting me so much. I must add that life is beautiful and we must keep enjoying it.