By anjali
Sushant Singh Rajput’s sisters have always rooted for the actor. Ever since he died in 2020, his sisters have often come out in his support or shared fond memories of their brother. Shweta Singh Kirti, his sister who lives in the US, also wrote an affectionate account of Sushant in her new book, Pain: A Portal to Enlightenment.
On the occasion of Sushant’s 38th birthday, we reflect on the words his sister penned about him in her book.
Table of Contents
When Sushant came into the world
Shweta expressed in her memoir that her parents had wished for a son when she was born because her mother had experienced the loss of her first son. “My family members have often told me that Mom and Dad wanted a son, more so because Mumma’s first child had been a son and she had lost him at a very young age,” Shweta wrote. After a lot of rituals and spiritual visits, Sushant was born on this day on January 12, 1986.
Growing up together
Shweta expressed that she had a strong sense of protectiveness towards Sushant because their mother believed that she was, “the catalyst for his much-desired arrival into our lives.” “Growing up, we were each other’s shadows – always together. We played and danced, studied and got into mischief, ate and slept, and did everything in unison, to the point people forget we were two separate individuals; they even called us ‘Gudia-Gulshan’ as if we were a single entity,” Shweta wrote, explaining that Gudia and Gulshan were her and Sushant’s nicknames.
How he responded to her initial menstruation
Shweta remembered their mother’s request for Sushant to be “gentle” with her after she got her first period in the sixth grade, as he used to playfully hit her. As he was disposing of a pad, Sushant asked his sister, , “What it it that you can’t share with me? I don’t like this barrier between us.” Shweta pointed out that reflected “his remarkable sensitivity and our profound closeness.”
On her wedding
“As I prepared to leave, Bhai hugged me tightly, tears streaming down our faces. It was a heartbreaking moment – we knew we wouldn’t be living together anymore, that we wouldn’t have the luxury of seeing each other as much as we used to,” Shweta wrote, admitting that she did regret leaving her brother behind as she relocated to the US after her wedding.
When was the last time she saw him and had a conversation with him?
Shweta said while Sushant didn’t visit her as he was busy with his meteoric rise in Bollywood, she visited him in India every year from 2014 till 2017. That was the last time she saw him as she couldn’t visit in 2018 and 2019. She did make a visit in January 2020 “especially to see him,” but was unable to do so. Four days before he was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, 2020, she invited him to the US again on the phone.
On getting the news
Shweta said it was her husband who broke the news to her on the night of June 13 in the US. “A chill ran down my spine and I lay in bed paralysed. I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry. By conviction of my practice, I fell into a space that sucked all the shock that my body and mind were going through,” she wrote.
Unable to have one final glimpse of him
Shweta recalled that since regular flights from the US to India weren’t available at the time of the covid-19 pandemic, she managed to secure a ticket very late. By the time she reached India, Sushant’s body had been cremated. “The realisation that I would not be able to see him for the last time and bid him a proper farewell left me feeling angry and frustrated. There was no closure for me.” Shweta said that the spiritual journey to come to terms with her brother’s death is what prompted her to write her new book, Pain: A Portal to Enlightenment.
(Also Read: On “Bigg Boss 17,” Ankita Lokhande Talks Candidly About Her Split With Sushant Singh Rajput)
