People can think what they want, I lead my life

I’m shy. I don’t feel comfortable with strangers and I don’t like partying. I go out when I feel like and I have to for people I love - Rekha

Launched in Hindi films in ‘Sawan Bhadon’ in 1970, Rekha has survived four and half decades in films. After so many years, she remains the ultimate Diva of show business. I meet up with the actor at her office in Bandra to wish her for her birthday but more important to catch up on what’s going on in life.

October 10 has become synonymous with your birthday?

(Smiles) Why do we attach so much importance to just one day? It is after all just a date and for me every date is special. I believe that every morning brings a new sunshine and every day, I learn something new, I grow and value life.

Is there a special routine you follow on your birthday like a puja or visit to the temple?

I do puja every day and visit the temple too. When we were kids, our parents made a fuss over our birthdays, got us gifts, as we got older and started working the interpretations changed but not for our parents. I think of my mother a lot and on my birthday even more so.

What do you remember most about her?

She is always in the subconscious so unknowingly I feel guarded by her aura. I truly believe that whatever good comes my way is a part of her blessings and feel unconditional gratitude for the universe.

How do you remain so positive, where do you find your strength?

I don’t believe in harboring negative feelings. If I sense unpleasantness I divert my energies. It is not difficult to remain positive if you remain focused. I believe in conserving my energies for more productive purposes. I use my time and my thoughts constructively. There is never a mundane moment in my life.

What is a day in your life?

Normal, I wake up early, exercise, go through my routine; it is different when I’m shooting or preparing for shooting and different, when I’m attending to things at home. No work is dull for me be it clearing my wardrobe or designing my clothes for a new film.

Years ago you launched an album Body Mind &Temple celebrating the art of yoga, do you still practice yoga?

Of course, I’ve been doing it for years now. As children we saw our mother do Suryanamaskars every morning and later in the 80s I met the fitness guru Rama Bans who put me on to yoga track aggressively and since then it has been a way of life for me.

People often ask me what do you eat that you look the way you do?

I’m vegetarian and mostly eat homemade food; call it my fortune but I have no habits. I don’t drink any beverages, aerated water and have never tasted alcohol, not even champagne, so in a way you can call me a boring person.

What are your other dos’ and don’ts for a healthy peaceful life?

I’m nobody to profess any advice to anybody but I do believe that beauty eventually is internal and what you feel is what you project. You may use the best of cosmetics or clothes but if you are not happy from within, if you are suffering, it is bound to reflect on your face. Unless you believe the universe is a celebration life will not feel like a celebration.

So what makes you feel so happy?

I’m happy to be alive, to experience aesthetics in nature and in my surroundings. I feel privileged to be showered with so much love from my well wishers and feel unlimited gratitude for their unconditional affection. It is all the law of karma, whatever you feel, whatever you give, comes back to you and I’m blessed that I feel positive vibes all the time.

Why are you such a recluse, why don’t you meet people?

I’m shy. I don’t feel comfortable with strangers and I don’t like partying. I go out when I feel like and I have to for people I love but I’m not social and I’m certainly not the partying kind, never have been and I don’t think it is important. People can think what they want, I lead my life.

The interview comes to an end but on my way home, I find myself thinking about Rekha. It is so easy for all of us to make impressions about a celebrity. The bigger the star, the more disproportionate her image becomes. Rekha has been a victim of too many perceptions over the decades. The media has built her as a mystery woman and her fans revere her as a Diva but the fact is Rekha at heart is a simple girl who is happy to lead a very simple. It is just that this does not fit into our interpretation of the superstar, but it is true!