Sabkush Headlines: Pssst... secret?

Sabkush Headlines: Pssst... secret?Pssst... secret?

Some secrets are best kept hidden. But, if they ever tumble out of the closet, it’s important to deal with them. In the wake of Om Puri’s wife’s startling revelations, Kalpana Sharma explores forbidden realms Did they, didn’t they...? The world is still trying to figure out what really went on between India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina, the wife of India’s last viceroy Lord Mountbatten. Their “affair” is still providing grist to the rumour mills. Another ‘dark secret’ that recently tumbled out was about Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who according to her biographer, slept with her mother’s boyfriend at the age of 16. Some dark secrets are best kept hidden, but there are people who choose to go public with their own private demons. Comments adman Prahlad Kakkar, “We have seen many people, who reach an age and stage when they’re not scared of being judged by society and willingly share their experiences.” Celina Jaitley, for instance, revealed her heartache at finding out that the first man she fell in love with was gay. She says, “The incident was known only to those closest to me. I shared it with the world to help the gay community. I feel strongly for them.” She rose from being a victim to emerging as a vocal supporter of the cause of gay rights. However, not everybody remains unscathed after a secret, away from prying eyes for years, is suddenly uncovered. Recently, actor Om Puri’s wife revealed a very private sexual past of the actor in her biography. A livid Puri reacted, “I shared something beautiful with my maid Shanti, which I confided to my wife, since I wanted to be honest with her. Not because she could talk about it in her biography.” At this, Nandita defended herself, “I am sure such incidents happen with lots of men who don’t normally want to talk about their past. But being a journalist I wanted to present a true picture to the world.” All’s fair in love and literature! The late Princess Diana would have known, as she had her biographer and ex-lovers regularly air intimate details about her life. Says psychologist Varsha Pathak, “It’s incorrect to reveal personal details shared in confidence. Everyone in this world has the right to their deep, dark secrets. We all have them, but we don’t share them for the fear of tarnishing our images. We all have pleasant and unpleasant experiences in life. Sometimes, we should just let them be.” Explains psychologist Seema Hingorrany, “Everyone has a part of their life that is untouched by anyone. It’s sometimes because you don’t want to confront an unresolved conflict or because you’re worried or ashamed of the world finding out. However, sometimes confidences are triggered to get emotional relief.” Kakkar adds, “Leave aside a wife writing about her man’s personal life. Today, ex-lovers, nannies, therapists, drivers, everyone wants to write about celebrities. This is equivalent to crime and is an invasion of privacy. Someone once said that if you are a celebrity, nothing is personal and your life belongs to the public. I totally rubbish this claim.” A celebrity’s inner circle is often their inner sanctuary with only a handful of people privy to what goes on in the ‘real’ world. And then there are their secrets. One that still has the capacity to make headlines is that of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha. Says Susmita Dasgupta, who did her PhD on Bachchan and is now working on his biography, “At one point, I thought Amitabh, like any honest man, would have married Rekha if he truly loved her. But men often don’t work that way. Men can be very sincere and honest with women they never intend marrying. The background from which Amitabh came, monogamy had a certain value and this stood in his way. For Amitabh, the affair meant infidelity and so he always had a tendency to push the affair under the carpet.”