Actor, writer and playwright
Manav Kaul has reflected on his journey from Kashmir to Mumbai, opening up about displacement, survival, and the years he spent living in a chawl while trying to find his footing as an artist.
Speaking about his childhood during his appearance on The Real Story with Sanghmitra Hitaishi, Manav recalled that his family left Baramulla, Kashmir, when he was young and moved to Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh.
"We came back to Hoshangabad because my mother is from Hoshangabad. My grandmother's health had deteriorated badly," he said.
What initially seemed like a temporary move eventually became permanent as the situation in Kashmir worsened.
"My father was still working there, so he told us to stay back because something seemed wrong. Then by the time things got worse, we had already stayed on, joined school, and kept saying, 'Let's wait another year.' Eventually my father had to come too. That's how it became displacement."
'There wasn't much acceptance'
Manav admitted that adjusting to a new environment wasn't easy.
"My brother and I looked very different. We were clearly Kashmiri children. There wasn't much acceptance."
He spoke about the challenges of fitting in as a child, saying, "Children can be a very cruel world. Adults are often more empathetic and kind. Children aren't."
The actor revealed that adapting to his surroundings came at a cost.
"My brother and I struggled a lot and survived. In the process, I had to cut away my Kashmiriyat. Eventually I forgot the Kashmiri language."
'You had to manage an entire day on Rs 30'
Years later, when he moved to Mumbai to pursue his creative ambitions, life remained far from easy.
"A lot of it came from the empty time I had when I was living in a chawl in Parel and other places," Manav recalled.
Looking back, he is grateful those years unfolded before the era of social media.
"Thank God there were no reels back then. If there had been, I think I would have become a completely ruined person."
Describing his financial struggles, he said, "We lived in a chawl. There was nothing to do. The day still had to pass somehow. We didn't have enough money to spend freely either."
"You had to manage an entire day on Rs 30."
With little money for entertainment, Manav turned to books.
"You couldn't go out. You couldn't celebrate. There were no cafes. So there were books. And somewhere from there, I developed the habit of finding entertainment through books."
Finding freedom in displacement
While displacement once felt painful, Manav said he eventually began to see it differently.
"The first time the Lincoln Center invited me to New York, an elderly Egyptian man came to pick me up. Then I understood something. It's an amazing thing that displacement happened."
Reflecting on the many places that have shaped him, he added, "I was born in Kashmir. I grew up in Hoshangabad. I live in Bombay. I've been to New York. Now I can go anywhere and be that person."
For Manav, the experience of constantly moving between places ultimately became part of his identity as an artist.
"I think one of the most beautiful things about art and artists is that they don't belong. And I love that."
Even so, Mumbai remains home.
"I travel a lot, sometimes for months. But as long as I know I'm going to come back to Bombay, I'm fine. I have a small flat there that I've created. It's almost like an art studio for me. That's my anchor."
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