Javed Akhtar Tears Up Recalling Days Of Struggle & 'Almost Dying Of Starvation' On Streets: 'No Difference Between A Human & Dog'

Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar broke down in tears remembering the famine he went through while working as a struggler in the film business.

Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar broke down in tears remembering the famine he went through while working as a struggler in the film business.

Source : IMDb

New Delhi: Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar became emotional remembering the famine he went through while working as a struggler in the film business. He claimed that, at a certain point, hunger makes it difficult to distinguish between a human and an animal, and that, on occasion, he wonders how useful the opulent spreads that are offered to him now would have been if he had gone days without eating.

Javed Akhtar and relationship with his father

Javed was questioned about his difficult connection with his father and whether he remembered what transpired when he was made to live on the streets during an interview with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story. 

“I remember the minutest detail, I feel very thankful for life, instead of getting sad about it, or feeling victimised or persecuted, I feel very thankful to life.” He said.

“So often, in the mornings… I live by the sea, I can only see the ocean from my windows. I sit there, and they bring breakfast on a trolley. I feel like maybe I’m a part of some drama, that all this doesn’t belong to me. And I feel so thankful to life. Look! I have so much food, I can eat. I sit at my dining table many times, when I finish eating, I see so much food is still there. And I feel if I could’ve gotten just one dish, that daal, or that sabzi, that night when I was so hungry, how much I would have enjoyed it.” Akhtar added.

Javed Akhtar on days of starvation

“On one hand, I do remember those tough days, but on the other hand, I feel extremely thankful, because there must be crores and crores of people who suffered the way I suffered, but they were not rewarded or compensated.” Asked if there were days when he didn’t have food to eat, he said, “Oh, what a question. Many times.” He said in the same interaction.

When asked what he would do in those circumstances, he responded wryly, "When you don’t have anything to eat, you don’t do anything. Actually, it’s very interesting. Suppose you haven’t eaten anything since morning, and you go to somebody’s house, and they’re sitting at the dining table, and they say, ‘Aaiye khana kha lijiye (Come, eat with us)’, and spontaneously many times it has happened, I’ve said, ‘Nahi, kha ke aaya hoon (No, I just ate)’. If they came to know that I was dying of starvation, that would be very shameful.”

Javed claimed that although he used to feel bad about turning down food, he now feels justified in going to his friends' houses and demanding food.

“There are two-three moments which have traumatised me very badly; that trauma has remained with me. To be hungry for two days, three days, it’s traumatic. On the third day, there is no difference between a human being and a dog. All your sense of dignity, your self respect, it becomes so vague. The only thing that you know is that you’re hungry.”

When asked which hurt him more, he said that not having food and his father's decision to stay alive without offering assistance were the answers. He laughed as he stated, "On the third day, you don’t remember father, you remember only food.”