Actress Alia Bhatt broke down during an event on Sunday, saying she felt guilty for being a “terrible sister”. Alia couldn’t control her emotions while speaking about her sister, Shaheen’s battle with depression while speaking at ‘We The Women’ curated by journalist Barkha Dutt. Alia added that she felt terrible for not understanding Shaheen as much as she should have during her battle with depression.
Alia found out about her sister’s battle with depression through her book
Shaheen, who has penned a book on her battle with depression since the age of 13, also spoke about it in an Instagram post. The book titled, I’ve Never Been (un)Happier was what led Alia to realise and understand the depth of her sister’s lone battle.
Alia, who is five years younger to Shaheen, spoke about how proud she is of her sister’s growth and yet heart-broken about her condition. Alia said, “I feel extremely proud, heartbroken and overjoyed at the same time. Even though I’ve lived with my sister, my whole life, 26 years, I only understood what she was going through after reading her book. That makes me feel, on so many levels, so terrible as a sister. I feel like I didn’t put myself out there enough to understand her, to think about what she was going through.”
The actress couldn’t control her emotions and broke down
The sisters’ session on mental health witnessed Alia breakdown several times while talking about what her sister went through. On one instance Alia choked up talking about her nervousness surrounding the sensitive subject. “I am suddenly feeling very nervous. I am very nervous that I am going to start crying any minute because once we start talking about my sister and her…,” Alia said before breaking down in front of the audience and was consoled by her sister.
Alia was well aware how tabloids would work this and mentioned it during the discussion that, “The reason I didn’t want to cry was because it’ll become ‘Alia sheds a tear.’ But it isn’t about that. I don’t want it to become the focus but I’m sorry I just can’t help but cry. I love her so much, with each muscle and cell in my body.”
Alia and Shaheen have taught us to be aware of the happenings in our loved one’s lives
However, both Shaheen and Alia have learnt something from the former’s revelation about her mental condition and this is the lesson we must all take forward. We should all learn to listen and help our loved ones in need and understand the complexities of a ‘happy mind’.
Arjun Kapoor, who received a copy of the book, had shared on Instagram “@shaheenb thank you for your kind words. It truly makes me happy and proud knowing you have turned something everyone thought was a weakness into ur biggest strength & dared to share when most would shy away thinking what the world would think & say…big love and all the best with everything.”
