Sharmila Tagore will do hisaab-kitaab with cook, Mansoor Ali Khan would lock phone at night: Soha Ali Khan says she, Saif were ‘made aware of money’s value’ as kids

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“But, as a child, you don’t really take note of how much privilege you have. I attended The British School, where many came from similar or even wealthier backgrounds. People who know about princes in India would also know that though they have a lot of traditions, fine clothes and some land, they may not have a lot of cash. At least my father gave the impression that we had no money. He was most concerned with the cost of petrol and electricity. We had one telephone with a huge extension cord and one would have to follow it to find who had the phone and it was more often than not my sister (jewellery designer Saba Ali Khan), locked in her room,” she said, quipping how difficult it was for the rest of the family to use it.

“But my father would sit on top of that phone all day long and at night, when he went to bed, he would lock it. He would also leave post-it notes all over the house saying ‘turn off the lights’. If I wanted to go to a friend’s house, he would say: ‘Petrol is very expensive.’ So, we were very aware of the value of money. When somebody once gave me Rs 500, he said, ‘You can either take this now or I’ll give you Rs 50 every August for the rest of my life.’ I handed the money to him and he kept giving me Rs 50 every year until I was 25. That was a lesson in investment and savings,” she added.

Opening up about her father’s financial situation, Soha revealed that “Tiger” Pataudi never had a conventional “professional income”. “Because he lost so much in life, he didn’t take anything for granted, particularly money,” she said. Soha also credited both her parents for making her conscious of expenses and financial responsibility. “My mother always did hisab-kitab (accounting). I remember, when we were growing up, she would sit with the cook after lunch and do hisab-kitab and hence, knew the price of vegetables. Although I wasn’t spoiled, I did enjoy being a princess.”