Abir and Phalguni Chatterjee

Inspiration

Abir: The ways in which my parents inspired me is a realisation that happened to me, strangely, after I became a parent myself. I realised that I hero-idolised my father and always look up to him. And I identify with my mother the most. My father is cool and composed, and his sense of judgement inspires me. His decision-making abilities is something that I look up to. My mother inspires me with her transparent nature. My parents always gave me the full liberty to pursue whatever I wanted to in life. But I was always told that no matter what I do I need to put in my best efforts and must prove myself. My parents brought me up in a surrounding where I witnessed everything about theatre from a very young age. A well-planned childhood helped me a lot professionally. The way they brought me up is very inspirational for me. My parents never forced me. They approached their career like a passion not profession. Whether it was theatre or cinema, they never perceived it as a medium of earning. This approach also motivates me a great deal.

Phalguni: Whenever I see him following and reflecting upon the philosophies of life that I believe in, I feel inspired. The way he thinks and speaks also amazes me. Whenever I realise that he has inherited any of the ideologies that I believe in and is applying that in his life, it gives me immense pleasure knowing that I have been able to pass down something to my child. I find his professional journey from the beginning very inspirational in itself.

Spending time together

Abir: We are spending a lot of time with each other now. But otherwise also I am not a very outgoing person. The moment I finish shooting, I come back home. I share my profession with them, so we do end up discussing about it too. But in the last few months, I have been trying to make my father understand the concept of fake forwards. It is necessary for them to understand it, otherwise they will panic unnecessarily. So, we are spending a lot of time together in tech training!

Phalguni: We discuss a lot of things that are happening around us. We don’t always agree with each other. But I get to learn new things from such discussions. Sometimes new thoughts arise out of such discussions, helping me to think differently. That feels wonderful.

Indrani Dutta and Rajnandini Paul Telegraph picture

Indrani Dutta and Rajnandini Paul

Inspiration

Rajnandini: It is wonderful how my mother has cracked the code of balancing being a friend and a parent. I never have to hesitate to tell her anything. Even if I make any mistake, no matter how old I am, I can always come to her. She knows when to stop me. My mother is very hardworking. She stays up all night preparing for shoots. She always looks out for perfection. Even when she does gardening, she puts so much effort into it. She is a great mentor too as she herself has been part of the fraternity where I am trying to build a career. She always tells me to be humble and to never ridicule anyone. She always asks me to nurture the child within me and that is something I admire about her.

Indrani: I appreciate her maturity. I am still a bit childish when it comes to taking decisions. The kind of maturity she shows in dealing with her career is amazing. She is very straightforward and that helps her in her career. The way she approaches life and her career by communicating with people clearly, inspires me always. She teaches me a lot.

Spending time together

Rajnandini: We do the most silly things together. We gossip together. It is not that we always talk a lot about work. We also spend time watching some great movies together.

Indrani: We always have breakfast and dinner together. She also helps me a lot with my gardening. During lockdown, when I was shooting videos from home, she helped me with make-up, assisting with the camera and uploading.

Sreenanda and Tanusree Shankar Telegraph picture

Sreenanda and Tanusree Shankar

Inspiration

Sreenanda: My mother inspires me to be dignified and patient. I admire the way she finds her way around by being kind. My mother has been my dance guru after my grandmother (Amala Shankar, who passed away on Friday), so, she definitely inspires me in various ways when it comes to dance. I have learnt so much from her. Be it showing a presence of mind or how to present oneself on stage.

Tanusree: She is a much stronger person than I am, and she inspires me with her strength. She is very transparent as a person and a very loyal friend. These are some of her qualities that I would like to incorporate in myself too. But at the same time she is also a very soft person within. The way she goes out of her way to help people without any sort of public announcement is also very inspirational for me.

The organisation that she started, Makeover Madness, is her brainchild. She always had it within her to inspire other women. She always believes that simple and natural make-up helps one to give a boost to their confidence.

Spending time together

Sreenanda: I stay in Mumbai. But whenever I visit Calcutta, we sit for an adda every evening over tea or phuchka or any food item that we both enjoy. This is more of a ritual for us. We talk about everything during such addas. We also love watching dance performances together. My mother is a very open-minded person.

Tanusree: We have a great time together whenever we meet. We are best of friends. We love travelling to different countries together. We have some wonderful memories from our days in London. We are a great support system for each other.

Riddhi, Koushik and Reshmi Sen Telegraph picture

Riddhi, Koushik and Reshmi Sen

Inspiration

Riddhi: My parents are completing 25 years of their marriage. They have been in this journey with utmost honesty. For them, marriage is not a monotonous process of staying together. They know each other since their school days and are friends even today. If they ever have a problem they show it. They never hide anything from me. They make it very clear that apart from being my parents, they are also two separate individuals and have a relationship of their own. They keep on reflecting upon things with time, they are not fixated with anything. That is so inspiring.

Koushik: Whenever we introduce Riddhi to any senior from the industry, we are told that we brought him up well. That is a very proud moment for us as parents. He is very caring.

Reshmi: It is actually amazing, how he makes his friends comfortable around us. He never asks anything for himself. We feel very happy that he has grown up to be empathetic towards people.

Spending time together

Riddhi: I just love spending time with them. I consider them to be a part of my friend’s circle. When my friends come over, we all sit for adda post 10pm. I share everything about my personal life with them.

Koushik: We have lots of things in common, so spending time together feels great. I wrote two plays during the lockdown. I read it out to Reshmi and Riddhi, and his friends too. We discuss films, plays, news or any international issues too. I have a special interest in history and economics, apart from poetry and theatre, and I love discussing it with him.

Reshmi: He is a little closer to me compared to his father. We often do a mother-son outing, where we go and watch any film, be it good or bad, and then laugh our hearts out. We go out to eat at various places, so as mother and son we spend a lot of time together, apart from spending time as a family.