The festival of Diwali begins with the auspicious day of Dhanteras, which signifies new beginnings, wealth and prosperity. This year, Diwali is extremely special for Sonakshi Sinha, as she recently moved into her beautiful sea-facing apartment in Bandra. The actress talks about her family’s tradition of buying gold and celebrating the festival in her new home.

“Well, that’s the main ritual in the family, to buy gold on Dhanteras. I remember accompanying mom to different jewellery stores to buy beautiful pieces, which she still does. Personally, I don’t do gold shopping, my mom buys gold for me. So, when it comes to jewellery, I trust my mom’s choice. She has a stunning collection of ornaments that have passed down from generations. On occasions like Dhanteras and Diwali she makes sure that I am wearing gold,” says Sonakshi.

Bring up her name which bears the word sona, and the Dabbang actress breaks into a laugh and says, “It’s all thanks to my dad (Shatrughan Sinha) who fell in love with my eyes when I was born. He said, ‘I have never seen such beautiful eyes, ever, in my life and so I am going to call her Sonakshi. Here, sona means gold and akshi means eyes, toh sone jaise aakhon wali and so Sonakshi!”

As far as her new beginnings are concerned, Sonakshi, who won appreciation for her performance in the web show Dahaad, is happy to have ticked off one wish from her bucket list, which is to buy her own house before she hit 30. Talking about it, she shares, “I was a little late in fulfilling my dream. It was because of my dad that I wanted to buy my own house. He fondly talks about his first house, which he still owns that he bought after he came to Mumbai from Patna. It’s a 1 BHK apartment at Bandstand (Bandra). For him, it’s like his palace. Seeing his excitement, I always wanted to buy a house on my own and it’s a special feeling.”

The actress has always lived with her parents and brothers, Luv and Kussh, at their family home in Mumbai. Talking about how they reacted to the new move in her life, and she says, “They respected my decision and somewhere in their hearts they know that I am not going to leave them (laughs). I am so comfortable there, as I have grown up in that house. I shuttle between both the houses, and I enjoy spending most of my time with my family in the other house.”

Ask Sonakshi who she feels carries off a gold ensemble beautifully, and she says, “In Bollywood, if there’s one person who carries off gold in style, that’s Rekha ji. I think she always looks so beautiful in those lovely saris she wears. Even today, she’s timeless and ethereal.”