The actress, who is stuck in the US due to the ongoing pandemic, talks about coping with the pain of losing her dad, all alone in a foreign land
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; April 15, 2020)

Bollywood and TV actress Sana Saeed lost her father, Urdu poet Abdul Ahad Saeed, on March 22 (the Janata Curfew Day), while she was stuck in the USA due to the travel restrictions following the Coronavirus outbreak. She had flown to Los Angeles for an event that was scheduled to take place at the end of March, but was eventually cancelled. However, with flights being grounded, she had to stay put. Sana has been coping with the loss all alone in a foreign land. She says, “It was extremely hard for me to deal with the news. Besides, I was already in isolation here and had no one with me. That was tough and unfair.”

Sana’s father was diabetic, which led to many health complications. She says, “He fell sick in the last couple of months and was even hospitalised. However, he had returned home and was stable, or else I wouldn’t have left his side. In fact, I didn’t take up any work for the last two months as I wanted to be with him.”

The actress is slowly coming to terms with the situation. Sana shares, “I had shut myself from the world for a couple of days and was only taking calls from my family (mother and two sisters). I wanted to be with them and hug them. Every time I felt sad, I prayed. I understood that I had to stop being selfish. I couldn’t have expected him to keep living with the kind of pain he was in. I loved my dad so much that I can never get closure, but I have come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t be present for his final rites. I have made peace with the situation rather than fight it.”

While remembering her dad, who was a well-known Urdu poet, she added, “I plan to translate his poems in different languages and release them. He was extremely passionate about poetry, and I feel responsible to ensure that his work reaches as many people as possible,” she signs off.

Sangeeta Yadav (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 3, 2020)

Actor Sana Saeed’s world came crashing down when she got to know that her father, Urdu poet Abdul Ahad Saeed, passed away due to a prolonged illness on March 22, when the nation observed Janata Curfew. Sitting miles away in Los Angeles, USA, and amid a lockdown situation due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it was all the more difficult for her to cope with the loss.

“My dad was a diabetes patient, and this led to multiple organ failure. It was around 7 am in LA when I got the news and I wanted to rush back home and hug my mother and sisters. I haven’t got closure since then. The circumstances under which I lost my father were very unfair, but I know in my heart that he was really suffering and he’s definitely in a better place now,” says Saeed, 31, who went to USA for an event.

Due to the Janata Curfew, the actor’s family decided to keep the funeral low profile to avoid a large gathering. “My family had decided to do the funeral on the same day and we had only three hours in hand. On their way, they were stopped by the cops to check, but after seeing the death certificate, they allowed them to go. Though I wasn’t there physically, my sister kept texting me all the time during the ceremony,” Saeed shares.

Uncertain about when she’ll get to return home, the actor is keeping herself occupied by “praying a lot, doing yoga, and has also taken up an online business course”.