Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a 13-year-old in the forthcoming film Paa, recounts his own childhood

My father Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a poet, would spend most of his time amid the books in his study. But my earliest memories of him involve us all, especially my mother being very conscious of giving him his space. She would ask us not to disturb him, but that never kept him away from the children and he would ensure that he spent quality time with us.

While my father came from a small town, Allahabad, my mother Teji Bachchan came from an affluent Sikh family from Punjab which is now in Pakistan. Given such varied backgrounds, we were exposed to the best of two worlds. Due to her convent education, my mother was more modern and outgoing of the two. I will always remember how she would take us out to theatres and cinema halls or for other cultural happenings to expose us to the various fields of art. And it is from my father that we imbibed our habit of reading and an interest in literature.

Since my father was a poet, our family had to live on a modest budget. But together, my parents never let us realise that money was a problem. We had a normal childhood, like any other children in those times. We would have our regular outings and were encouraged to study.

For my character in Paa, the 13-year-old Auro, I haven’t drawn much from my childhood, since at 67 I can hardly remember how I used to behave when I was 13. But in the dance that Auro does in the film with his mother, he is seen jumping around in puddles of water. That is one thing common between Auro’s and my childhood.