Veteran actress Saira Banu has recently reflected on her love for India despite being brought up in an English community. She also explained how her iconic actor husband Dilip Kumar was the most "desi man" she had ever met.
Saira Banu took to Instagram and posted glimpses from the 1986 film Karma with the popular song, "Ae Watan Tere Liye" playing in the background. Alongside the video, she penned a lengthy note in the caption remembering her late husband.
She started her caption with the date stamp, ‘15 AUGUST, 2024 (INDEPENDENCE DAY),’ adding, “Some memories don’t just live in photographs or words they breathe inside us. Mine often return unannounced, like a gentle breeze carrying the scent of home.”
The veteran actress elaborated, “Though I was raised in an English society, my heart never truly left my beautiful homeland, India. It lived in the adab Appaji so tenderly taught me and Sultan Bhai… in the aromas of home-cooked delicacies I would savor, one plate after another. Even from miles away, my soul was tied to the traditions of my motherland.”
Saira Banu recalled, “Today, when I look back, I see how everything fell into place as if written by the Almighty Himself. He knew where I truly belonged… and in that destiny, He placed my greatest blessing my beloved husband.”
Calling Dilip Kumar ‘desi man’, she continued, “Dilip Sahab was the most desi man I have ever known, a soul who carried his roots with unmatched pride and grace. His patriotism wasn’t loud it was lived. It was in the quiet ways he served his people, in the generosity he extended without expectation, in the values he never compromised.”
She further noted that Dilip Kumar was respected by the prominent names like andit Jawaharlal Nehru Sahab, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sahab, and P. V. Narasimha Rao Sahab.
She wrote, “He was respected by all who knew him from dear friends like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Sahab, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sahab, and P. V. Narasimha Rao Sahab, to the leading lawyers, economists, and industrialists of our times."
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"But what I admire most is how he understood that freedom was more than a privilege it was a duty. A duty to give back to the soil that cradled us, to carry the weight of our actions with humility, and to lift up those who had less," added Saira Banu.
Saira Banu concluded her post writing, “Today, as India completes 78 years of independence, my heart is filled with gratitude for the journey, for the people, for the roots that have shaped me. Independence is not just about breaking free; it is about being true to who we are, cherishing our heritage, and honoring the legacy of those who gave their all for this land. Happy Independence Day.”
For the unversed, Saira Banu married Dilip Kumar in 1966. They shared a deeply devoted relationship until his death in 2021.
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