Sushmita, Stay Well There’s So much To Do

Sushmita Sen and a heart attack?! My first response was that of disbelief.  Nah, couldn’t be. She leads such a healthy life. Of course she was a smoker when I was friendly with her. But I think she quit long ago. I am not sure. We stopped being friends aeons ago. Or rather she did. When it comes to  Sen, she takes all the decisions on which way a friendship goes.

What I vividly remember from our long conversations in the past was her insistence that she would die young. When she first said it I thought it was just youthful vanity: beautiful feel dying young is a sign of immortality. It’s  known as the Madhubala syndrome.

But I gradually realized Sushmita meant it. She brought up the death thing a number of times. Over the years, I had forgotten it. But now when she opened up on her frightening heart attack, I was reminded of those conversations when she was merely 24.

She spoke  with the wisdom of an 80-year old. And she feared nothing: not lecherous co-stars, not arrogant, vindictive directors, not spurned ex-lovers. Not even death.