Sharmila Tagore recently interacted with teachers and principals of Delhi University during a book launch in the city. During the discussion, the veteran actress reminisced about her college days, spoke about a new habit she has inculcated – of writing letters to her granddaughter – and even shared some snippets from her love story with Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

As Sharmila Tagore attended a discussion at the invitation of Miranda House Principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda, she told her, “I came to Delhi in 1984 when amma, my mother-in-law, was ill. I had heard of Miranda House even before then, and I had heard about all those very bright women. And because the principal has so much to do with it, and you’re the principal now, when I received the invitation from you, I couldn’t say no. I just had to come and get this Mirandian experience.”

Not just letters, the veteran actress remembered how the lightning calls took forever. She said, “So, I didn’t have a telephone, and I used to go to Raj Singh’s house – a wonderful friend of Tiger and mine. I used to go to his house and wait for a call at 1 am. Sometimes, the phone would ring, and I would urgently pick it up, and someone at the other end would hear a female voice and quickly hang up. Poor Raj Singh ji’s reputation! The call used to go via London, so we often ended up talking to the operator. Those operators were very much a part of our love story. Maybe we should have invited them to our wedding,” she joked.

Referring to Bijayaalaxmi Nanda’s book, which is about letters, she said, “Letters are wonderful. I’ve started writing letters to Soha’s daughter Inaaya, and when Soha opened that letter, the joy on that little girl’s face and that expression made me so happy. It was the first letter she had received. So I continued writing letters to her. She writes back, and Soha takes a photograph of it and sends it to me, not the real letter. Those letters are kept somewhere for me to see someday. If I live that long and Inaaya is of a certain age, then we can compare those letters and relive those moments. When I was writing to Tiger – that way, I think technology is wonderful – it took a couple of weeks to get back.”