IN BRIEF: In a series dedicated to disect the cause of depression, we look into true stories of celebrities who fought through and lived to tell the tale. In this post we recount the story of HRITHIK ROSHAN.
Skirmishes in Hrithik’s life
Diamonds that shine don’t attain near perfection early on. Metamorphosis is time consuming, exactly like how grape is turned into wine, people take time to shine. Hrithik Roshan, the heart throb of the nation was not born perfect, he too underwent severe adversities. It is a common assumption that children of Stars or Celebrities tend to enjoy affluent lives sans all hurdles of life, but it isn’t true.
As a child Hrithik faced severe stuttering issues. He had to live with his mates talk fluently around him, while he had to compose himself with an almighty strength to utter syllables. For a kid who finds expressing through words as his worst nightmare, it is a heart breaking experience.
Hrithik, at the age of 21 was diagnosed with Scoliosis-Curved Spinal Cord, and was suggested not to take up acting as a profession, as it demanded a lot of physical strain on the Spine, which might put him in a wheelchair for life.
Misfortune struck the actor again in 2010. He was diagnosed with a bad knee, apparently the condition made his left knee incredibly brittle, even worse than old people. The doctors feared the knee lasting not more than a year. In July of 2013, a blood clot was spotted in his brain. He had to get under the knife, which has infinitesimal chances of recovery. In fact, the procedure was so risky that the chances of death were higher.
Not So Good Childhood
Hrithik has always talked openly about his stuttering in his interviews with the media. Here is what he said:
When looked back into his childhood difficulties and was asked till what age he had to suffer abnormalities, he unflinchingly admits “Six to 35. I am 35”. About being bullied at school, he says:
These conditions and experiences makes childhood extremely anxious and incredibly unmanageable. Every phase of the day, from dawn till dusk is lived in abject dread. Because of the anticipation of facing the day trying miserably to talk and be mocked and ridiculed, is as fiery as living in hell.
The coping mechanisms that the actor describes appear to be typical of kids who stutter, throughout the world. “For oral tests at school, I used to bunk school, I used to fall sick, I used to break my hand, I used to get a sprain.” (Bollywood star talks about his stuttering, n.d.)
What Worked For Him
Speech therapists and doctors are all important, but they are mere parts, not enablers. What truly helped Hrithik was his efforts and the sheer bloody mindedness, the will to practice to get better. In one of his interviews he mentioned he had practiced for 36 hours to be able to tell his cook what to make for the dinner. This might sound unreal, it isn’t.
And we all give up so easily, we always find fault in our stars for not being perfect. But we forget that we have to work at it. We have to give in order to receive.
Hrithik in his speeches, talks or in public appearances uses Hinglish (mix of English and Hindi) which helps him to speak fluently. also his fabulous vocabulary helps him to find a substitute for the words he can’t pronounce clearly. He tends to use a lot of FILLER SOUNDS to make it sound free flowing. He did spend enormous amounts of time facing his mirror to get every aspect, every intonation, every syllable of his speech right. Hrithik admits that whenever he reads, which is often, he reads it out loud.
He shared a very personal experience in one of his interviews about his practice:
What’s For Us?
We always tend to fall behind and go out in search of external motivation. If we do not try to improve everyday, nothing bad is going to happen. We shall stay the same. It is easy to say, if Hrithik can do it, why can’t you. But, we are different people with different capacities to understand life and our goals. However, what we can take from Hrithik’s recovery is that, WE HAVE TO KEEP PUSHING. Find what scares you the most, picture it every second of everyday, internal motivation will automatically push you to hitherto unknown limits.
Hrithik being born with a silver spoon, so to speak, had even higher standards to meet and more pressure to be perfect. The constant increase in difficulties kept pace with his health. The zeal to practice and will power to succeed are two major tools he used to reach where he is now. If Hrithik, who donned the role of a superhero and enthralled the nation could fight back, we should also find our inner superhero.
References
Abhishek. (2015). Hrithik Roshan-things I learnt from his life. Retrieved from The Indian Stammering Association
Bollywood star talks about his stuttering. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Stuttering Foundation