In the last few months, Vaani Kapoor has been busy shooting for an upcoming project with Raj Kumar Gupta. In a quick chat with us, the actress shared her travel plans for this year and talked about her childhood in Delhi, surrounded by “dogs, horses, rabbits, monkeys, cows” at the family’s farmhouse. Excerpts:

Though this summer is mostly about work for Vaani she has her travel itinerary sorted. She says, “We have so much to explore in India and each place has its own charm. I love hills. I have not had time to visit hills, but I have grown up in Delhi and like for Mumbai people short getaways mean Lonavala, Alibaug, for us it is hills, Manali, McLeod Ganj, Nainital, so my entire childhood has been around hill stations. I love south India. I have been to Kerala once, but I would love to explore south India more. From the last two years I have also been inclined towards spiritual destinations. Tirupati and a couple of other places are on my wish list and I hope that I will do that this year.”

Vaani says that as soon as she completes her next shoot, she will be heading to her hometown Delhi. “I already have my list ready with golgappas and what not! My parents are khata-peeta Punjabis and their way of showing love is food. Now my mother has also started to trick me into eating cream etc saying nahi ye toh dahi hai, they always say haye sookh gayi hai, ise koi khilata nahi hai Mumbai mein. They tell me you have to live up to being a Punjabi,” she says.

Talking about her childhood in Delhi, the actress shares, “My childhood was a blast and now I look back and think why was I hoping and wishing to grow up soon. It was so much fun to be a kid. My family used to run an NGO. Our farmhouse was like a mini zoo with dogs, horses, rabbits, monkeys, cows. We had no neighbours, there were times when my schoolmates would make fun of me, but that was the best childhood one could have because it was so unique and different. I am very introverted, I am a big homebody and my house has been my happy place.”

Vaani adds, “My mother had built a swimming pool in our house with the help of a few workers. We would wake up at 8 am and be in the pool till evening. We would have a tub of mangoes and all seasonal fruits around us and this was how we would spend our summer vacations. My mother was strict and would make us eat veggies, but I was always looking for junk. There was a point when I was almost 70 kgs (I think when I was 12) and my mom was a bit alert about my health, but I was an active kid who would digest pretty much everything.”