Jackie Shroff Revisits the Joys of Living in Chawls During Earlier Days, Brings Emphasis on Embodying Humility

Jackie Shroff has always been vocal about his rise from the chawls and the struggles he had to endure during his initial days. Recently, the actor revisited his younger days, the simple joys of being surrounded by people who are family, by blood and also not by blood. Recalling his childhood days, Shroff says, “Pramila ben used to live nearby. She was from a Kutch community. Whenever she gave me ice, I felt like I had received a diamond because I used to drink Rooh Afza in milk; my mother would give it to me on Sundays and without ice, it just wasn’t as enjoyable. So she would give me ice every Sunday.”

“I came from a place like that, and I enjoyed those moments,” he added and recalled playing barefoot on the ground at places that would also cause injuries. “But we had so much fun. That kind of joy isn’t there in a flat. Because everyone in a family would sit together, all the friends and neighbours would live together. In a chawl, whatever you needed, you could find it in someone else’s house. If you didn’t have sugar, or you didn’t have some dal, they would give it to you.”

That is what added to his nature of providing as much as he can, he believes.”My mother used to say, “Whatever you have, son, give it. Give as much as you can. God will give you more. Keep taking with one hand and giving with the other.” That is how I have lived my entire life. I carry my mother’s story in my heart. I’m enjoying my life,” he recalls further.

The actor mentions that even if we reach the skies, we are still human beings even if our labels are different. “We should live together and support each other. If someone slips on a banana peel, help them get up. Don’t laugh. What have you achieved by laughing? You have only hurt that person. That poor person has fallen. If you simply extend your hand and help them up, you may not even realise how big a thing you have done,” he emphasises.

Focusing on being more humble and kind-hearted, he continues, “People take photographs, but eventually even those photographs disappear. Your children’s children will come, and those photographs may disappear too. So, what you have is what you have right now. We have to take care of each other. You should never try to become bigger by bringing someone else down. This is what I learned inside my chawl. You can’t be tall by making someone else small. You can’t. Don’t try to demean anybody. Never demean anyone. Don’t try to put someone down,” he mentions.

“There is a saying: don’t keep looking into other people’s houses. But if you do look and you see that someone needs help, then help them. It doesn’t matter. We are all eventually going back into the soil. Grass will grow over all of us. So make friends with the soil. I have already started making friends with it. I keep talking to it at night, saying, “Come on, brother, I’m coming. I’m coming. Grow over me too,” he emphasises and urges everyone to extend their hands and lift people up.