The small pleasures of life

The first thing that I do whenever I get a weekend all to myself is to pamper myself with the choicest of homemade skin and hair treatments. As actors, we have to use many hair products and apply different kinds of makeup which will spoil the natural texture of the skin and hair, if not taken care of.

A weekend gives me time to unwind after a hectic week of shooting and travelling. Apart from relaxing at home, I also indulge in a host of other things that I love doing.

One of my favourite pastimes is cooking. I am an experimental cook and give every traditional dish my own little twist. One of the first dishes that I learnt to make is 'Girmitt', which is a North Karnataka speciality. It is nothing but 'kadlepuri' mixed with spicy masala and salt. I sometimes add chocolate sauce which changes the flavour of the dish, giving it a whole new identity. I also like baking and mostly make dishes that have potato as the main ingredient. I love making Italian dishes.

My mother Geetha and I don't cook together because I am a little impatient and somewhat clumsy in the kitchen.
My mother cooks some of my favourite dishes whenever I return from a long shooting schedule. I have tried all kinds of dishes but some of the childhood items, like 'chapati' rolled in 'ghee', still remain a favourite. I like to spend time cooking because it has a therapeutic effect on me.

I go shopping whenever I get time. I don't like to shop in malls and in posh places. I would rather go to Commercial Street, Gandhi Bazaar and quaint market places in the city. I love shopping for scarves and jewellery. I usually move around on my two-wheeler. I mainly shop to get an idea of the latest designs in clothes and jewellery that have hit the market. I then share my thoughts with my designers and give them ideas for new outfits and accessories.

I don't like sticking to the traditional format for clothes and jewellery. Sometimes, a pendant gets converted into an earring and an earring gets made into a pendant.

Weekends are a time to go to temples with my mother. We make it a point to visit at least one temple every weekend and I think we have done the rounds of almost all the temples in and around Bengaluru.

My interest in temples began when I was very young and it holds on till today. I make it a point to read about a temple and dig out its history before going there.

This gives me a better understanding of the place. The stories about the deities and temples fascinate me to no end.

I am not a party person and I don't have many friends to hang out with. It may sound boring when I say that I prefer to stay indoors and indulge in small pleasures that make me happy. Just like there are a few specific things that I do over the weekends, I also make sure I plan my career because I believe in chalking out my own destiny. But I take one step at a time without rushing into anything and weekends give me that time to plan.

(As told to
Nina C George)