When Shabana Azmi said she wasn’t disappointed about not having kids, called motherhood ‘demanding’: ‘I was amazed at how easily…’

When asked if this was a “major disappointment,” Shabana said, “I am amazed at the fact that it isn’t. Because in the beginning, I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be a mother. I was so sure that I was so special and so privileged, that this is my God given right. And yet, I was so amazed at how easily I accepted it. Once I realised I couldn’t have kids, I didn’t let it linger over and make me unhappy. I just packed my bags and carried on from there and was very grateful for many other things that I could do.”

ALSO READ | After Bad Newz box office win, unpacking the rise of Vicky Kaushal: How Masaan boy is now Mr Dependable

Shabana was asked if she ever though about adoption and she immediately said, “I never wanted to adopt a child. No.” When asked why, she spoke about Farhan and Zoya and said, “Well, because I am very friendly with Javed’s kids so that need was fulfilled. They have grown up and they are at a time when I don’t have to change their nappies or worry about their malaria. They are bright children with whom I exchange ideas and it’s wonderful to have them at this age where they fight back with you and you can see new ideas germinating in them as they are having a conversation with you. That’s an age group I like very much.”

Shabana was asked if there was any resistance from Farhan and Zoya’s side when she married their father, she said, “They were too little, they were very young.”

From the homepage

Amit Shah’s deadline to end Naxalism looming, Maoists make a request: Give time till Feb 15 

As new labour codes spark a row, a look at rise and fall of trade unions in India

‘One of them even said I should get a Chinese passport…mocked me’: Woman ‘held up at Shanghai airport’ over Arunachal mention in passport