I could never muster the courage to speak to girls in my college in Pune. Most of them were Parsis and spoke English. I came from a village and could barely converse in English.
Mumbai can eat you up or teach you how to survive because it is a tricky city. I guess living in cities like Mumbai or Delhi makes you slightly more street-smart and alert.
I was born in Faridabad but brought up in Delhi and Mumbai. My father had been living hand-to-mouth and literally slept on railway platforms when he came to Mumbai for the first time to become a film singer. My parents were both singers; they sang together and fell in love due to their singing.
It will be necessary for us Indians - Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis and all others to whom India is their home - to recognize a common flag to live and die for.
I was born in Faridabad and I spent a major part of my growing up years in Delhi before shifting to Mumbai. Delhi-NCR is still very special to me.
Some people are trying to create hatred among Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Parsis by following the divide and rule trick adopted by British rulers, but they have been failed miserably.
I have grown up in Delhi in a way, and I keep coming here often. But, and I am sorry to say, I'll always be nervous when in Delhi. In my college days, I have had my bum pinched around so many times. So yes, in Mumbai, I can just walk around and do what I want to do, but in Delhi I'll always be scared.
Once I grew up and realised 'What am I doing?' I started re-listening to the music I was playing and I realised there was so much finesse - it was dynamic and simple but I wanted to be authentic to the original songs.
The unique thing about our country is that we have Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, and people of all other religions. We have temples and mosques, gurdwaras and churches. But we do not bring all this into politics... This is the difference between India and Pakistan.
Everybody has to go through a struggle period, and I was no different. When I came to Mumbai from Delhi, I didn't know anybody, and all my relationships had to be built up from scratch, including my work relationships.
The roots of India's soft power run deep. India's is a civilization that, over millennia, has offered refuge and, more importantly, religious and cultural freedom, to Jews, Parsis, several varieties of Christians, and Muslims.
If we dispense with some of our self-made boundaries, India can really take its place in the world as an economic power. It hasn't happened because we, sadly, don't look at ourselves as Indians but as Punjabis or Parsis, unlike the Americans. Don't make such boundaries.
I lost my mother to cancer, so once Masaba was born, my father moved from Old Delhi to live with me in Mumbai.
Back in 1981, when I had moved to Mumbai from Delhi and literally lived on the streets, I started accepting any role that came my way.
Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State - to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims - Hindus, Christians, and Parsis - but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan.
I never thought I would get into acting. I was studying computer applications in Delhi and that was when I got selected for my first TV show and came to Mumbai.