In a throwback interview, Kabir Bedi opened up about the time when he was ordained to be a monk and lived a life like that for quite some time, due to a valid reason!
Veteran actor, Kabir Bedi made his Bollywood debut with the film, Hulchal in 1971. Afterwards, in his career spanning more than 5 decades, he has worked in numerous films and television shows and never looked back. In 2021, Kabir had released his memoir, Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Journey of an Actor, wherein he shared many anecdotes of his life- from his four marriages to his affair with Parveen Babi, his spiritual side and many more. Recently, we stumbled upon a throwback interview of the actor, wherein he revealed that initially, he was ordained to be a monk and also mentioned the reasons behind this. For the unversed, he was born in a Sikh family in Lahore, to Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi and Freda Bedi. However, his mother was the first western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism.
In an old interview with the Hindustan Times in 2013, Kabir Bedi revealed that initially, he was ordained to be a Buddhist monk when he was a child. He also admitted about spending a few months in a monastery when he was 10 years old. He mentioned that this was because his mother was a Buddhist nun, and thus, his head was shaved at a young age, and he was put in a room to make him live a life of a monk. He was heard saying:
“My mother was a Buddhist nun in Tibet for the last 15 years of her life. I was also ordained a monk in Burma when I was 10. I spent a few months in a monastery as well. My head was shaved, and I was put in a room, had to wear a robe, roam the streets with a bowl to get donations of food from people and meditate for certain hours in the day. I spent the summer that year as a Buddhist monk.”
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On June 30, 2021, Kabir came up in an Instagram LIVE session with his granddaughter and actress, Alaya Furniturewalla (daughter of Pooja Bedi and her ex-husband, Farhan Furniturewalla). There the actor was seen throwing light on his regret of not spending much quality time with his daughter, Pooja Bedi and son, late Siddharth Bedi, during their childhood days. The actor also added that he had divorced his wife, Protima Bedi but not his kids and had said:
"Even though I divorced your nani, I never ever divorced my children. Whenever there's a divorce it's always a tragedy and the biggest sufferers are the children. Whenever there's a divorce people always talk about quality time...but quantity is also important. Those were very special times I spent with your mother and your uncle. They spent their last few years of high school with me. They came and lived in America with me then Pooja returned to Bombay to start her Bollywood career and Siddharth stayed on to go to university first Carnegie Mellon and then Chapel Hill in North Carolina. I always regret that I couldn't spend more time with them but then that's what happens in divorces."
At the end of the conversation, Alaya also asked her grandpa how did he incorporated his kids, Pooja Bedi and Siddharth Bedi, into his life in the United States. Answering this, the actor mentioned that whenever a divorce happens, the ones who suffer the most are children. Elaborating on the same, he had added:
"One of my great regrets is that I couldn't give enough quantity time. So I tried to make it up by having the best time I could with them when they came. And that's what mattered to me. Being able to have that time with them and make the most of it."
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The popular actor, Kabir Bedi's personal life wasn't a bed of roses. He had married four times to find peace in his life ultimately. First, he had married Protima Bedi in 1969, only to part ways with her in 1974. They were also blessed with two kids, Pooja and Siddharth. However, his son had left the mortal planes in 1997 after committing suicide. Afterwards, Kabir was in a relationship with actress, Parveen Babi but nothing could become serious due to her illness.
Later, Kabir married Susan Humphreys in 1980 and was blessed with a son, Adam Bedi. However, once again, they parted ways in 1990. Then, the actor married Nikki Bedi in 1992, only to part ways in 2005. Finally, at 71 years, Kabir tied the knot with Parveen Dusanj in 2016.
What do you think about Kabir Bedi's revelations?
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