‘I’m not scared of death’: Pavitra Rishta’s Usha Nadkarni opens up about living alone at 80
New Delhi: Veteran actress Usha Nadkarni, who is fondly known as Usha Tai, lives alone in Mumbai at the age of 80. Best known for Pavitra Rishta, Usha opened up about living alone, continuing to work even at the age of 80.
Growing up, Usha Nadkarni had a difficult childhood because of the violent household, and later, she balanced her career by staying away from her only son.
Usha Nadkarni on living alone
In a recent conversation with Rajshri Marathi, Usha revealed that she has living alone since 1987. Now, her son lives abroad and her siblings have passed away.
“I’m used to it. I’ve been living alone since 1987. I’m not scared at all. I used to be scared when I first moved into my building. I would ask the guard to accompany me to my door because I was afraid somebody would attack me from behind. But I’m not scared anymore,” she said.
She further admitted that she sometimes think about death because she lives all by herself, but she has never feared it.
“People can’t tell how they’ll die. Some people go in their sleep, some people die in the hospital. I’m not scared even one bit. If I die in my sleep, my neighbours would come knocking and think, ‘Buddhi ne darwaza nahi khola hai (The old lady didn’t open the door)’,” she added.
She further revealed that she separated from her husband years ago, but there is no bitterness towards him or his family. Instead, she has hosted dinners for the Nadkarni family over the years.
Talking about her son, she said that Usha Mother took care of her son while the actress was occupied with work.
Her son grew up at her brother’s home because it was more spacious and she was busy with Marathi theatre, she once revealed to Pinkvilla.
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She was quoted as saying, “I would go visit him when I had the time. There was no set schedule. Marathi plays would occupy all my time, because there would be multiple performances in a single day.”
Looking back at her life, she shared taht he son often tells her that she has “only given birth to him. His real mother was my mother.”
Usha Nadkarni’s childhood
In earlier interviews, Usha described that she had a difficult childhood. She described her father as a “violent” man whose temper left the family leaving in constant fear. Her father was an Air Force officer.
She told Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa on their podcast that even minor things would trigger him – a newspaper that wasn’t folded properly or school books were not arranged neatly often led to violent outbursts.
She said, “If he found the newspaper to be crumpled or crooked in any way, he would lose his temper and tear it up. If he saw that our schoolbooks weren’t kept in neat rows, he would tear them up in anger. My mother would tell him that he’d only have to buy new ones, so he shouldn’t tear them.”
Recalling an incident when her brother was being beaten, she said, “Once, my brother was being beaten up for some reason, and I tried to stop my father. He attacked me with a ‘koita’. You know, one of those knives with a curved edge? I got injured on my arm, and I had a play the next day. I went to perform with the injury.”