When actress Nadira revealed Meena Kumari had a habit of collecting stones from different places, “usse pattharon mein shakal dikhayi deti thi, uske kabr par sirff..."

When actress Nadira revealed Meena Kumari had a habit of collecting stones from different places, “usse pattharon mein shakal dikhayi deti thi, uske kabr par sirff..."

Even decades after her passing, Meena Kumari continues to resist easy understanding. She remains one of Hindi cinema’s most celebrated yet enigmatic figures, a woman whose public image of sorrow and tragedy barely hinted at the private world she inhabited. Actress Nadira, who worked closely with Meena Kumari and knew her beyond the arc lights, once shared memories that reveal a deeply unusual, almost haunting side of the legendary star.

Nadira, a prominent name in 1950s and 60s cinema, made two films with Meena Kumari. Yet she believed that truly knowing her was impossible. Recalling their association, Nadira once said, “I made two films with Meena Kumari ji. And it is useless to know or identify that woman. She never touched reality.” According to Nadira, Meena Kumari lived in a space far removed from the material world, detached from money, routine, and even self-preservation.

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One incident Nadira narrated captures this detachment with startling clarity. She recalled hearing that someone had approached Meena Kumari asking for ten thousand rupees. Without hesitation, Meena Kumari reportedly replied that the money was kept in a cupboard and could be taken. When Nadira later met her and questioned this casual generosity, Meena Kumari appeared unmoved. Nadira quoted her as saying, “Earlier people used to come from the back door and take it. Now they come from the front door and take it. Let them take it. What will I do with all this?”

But it was another habit of Meena Kumari’s that left an even deeper impression on Nadira. She revealed that Meena Kumari had a peculiar fascination with stones.

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Wherever she travelled, she would collect stones and keep them with her. Nadira recalled, “Woh jahan bhi jaati thi, patthar ikattha karti thi. Usse pattharon mein shakal dikhayi deti thi.” She would look at these stones and see faces in them, almost as if they were living companions, each holding a story only she could see.

This strange intimacy with inanimate objects reflected the solitude she carried through life. While millions adored her on screen, Meena Kumari remained profoundly alone off it. She spoke little of her pain, choosing silence, poetry, and emotional restraint over confession. Her inner world seemed richer, and perhaps safer, than the reality around her.

Nadira’s most poignant recollection came when she spoke about Meena Kumari’s death. She said that for nearly ten years after Meena Kumari passed away, only one stone marked her grave. It was a stone she herself had collected. Nadira remembered, “For ten years, only that stone remained on her grave. No one buried her.”

Even today, Meena Kumari remains a complex personality because the woman behind the legend was never fully revealed. Beyond the sorrow the world saw on screen, she lived in a deeply private inner world. As Nadira recalled, she found stories and companionship in stones, seeing faces where others saw nothing. This quiet contrast between her towering fame and her fragile, inward-looking habits is what makes Meena Kumari endlessly complex and forever intriguing.