‘It’s okay if you don’t fit in a box; Make your own box and own it’

Two months into her marriage, Vidya Balan talks about finding her perfect man, learning to live by the sea and why she's a bundle of nerves ahead of every shoot. Excerpts:

How has life changed after marriage? Are you settled in your new home?

We are just about getting used to the new routine. We did up the house ourselves with a little help from an interior designer. Siddharth (Roy Kapur) has always lived by the sea, but I haven't ever. In fact, my mom was quite worried that the sea salt would spoil all the new things we are buying for the house. It's really beautiful here at night — we switch off the lights and just listen to the sea. I still go to meet my parents every day in Bandra and have lunch with them. The excuse is that I can't do my workout in the new house because of the wooden flooring, but it's really because I miss them so much.

So do you cook for Siddharth?

I don't cook. I have never learned cooking much to the annoyance of my mom. She has trained the servants. I can only cook Maggi. I can't even make sandwiches. Even Siddharth doesn't cook, but both his brothers are fantastic cooks. I have a simple funda — they can either bring the food or they can make it here in our well-stocked kitchen. I can keep a house well, but not a kitchen. I don't think its essential to know everything. There are two things about me that I can't bring myself to change — I hate technology and I hate cooking.

So you are technologically challenged?

Totally. For example, I refuse to change my phone too often. It's an effort for me to learn new applications. My phone is always on silent. It's an effort for me to pick up the phone. I don't even know how to make conversation with people who are into buying latest gizmos and phones — all the jargon they use is beyond me. The other day my driver was showing me something from his phone and he projected the image on the wall. I was stunned. He asked me, "Madam, iske baad kya hota hai (What happens after this)?" I wanted to ask him, "Pehle yeh batao ki yeh kaise karte hain (First, you tell me how to do this)." I don't know how people navigate Twitter and Facebook. It's only now that I've got the hang of sending e-mails. It's a personal achievement that I have finally mastered the iPhone 4. Someone asked me about the iPhone 5 and I said abhi do saal lag jaayenge usko seekhne mein (It'll take me two years to get a hang of that).

... contd.

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