ಹೇಮಂತ್ ಕುಮಾರ್ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ‘ದಿ ನ್ಯೂ ಇಂಡಿಯನ್ ಎಕ್ಸ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್’ನಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಸ್ಪೆಷಲ್ ಕರೆಸ್ಪಾಂಡೆಂಟ್’ ಆಗಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಾವಿಬ್ಬರೂ ಒಂದೇ ಕಚೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದೆರಡು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಇಂದಿಗೂ ‘ಮಗನೇ’ ಅಂತ ಕರೆಯುವುದು ಹಾಗೂ ನಾನು ‘ಅಣ್ಣಾ’ ಅನ್ನುವುದು ಅವರನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರ. ನಾನೇನಾದರೂ ಇವತ್ತು ಅಲ್ಪಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಹೇಮಂತ್ ಕಾರಣ. ನನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಪ್ರಭಾವ ಬೀರಿದ, ನನ್ನ ಯೋಚನಾ ವಿಧಾನವನ್ನೇ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿದ, ನನ್ನ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಯ ದಿಕ್ಕನ್ನೇ ತಿರುಗಿಸಿದ, ಹಾಲಿವುಡ್ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳ ಗೀಳು ಅಂಟಿಸಿದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಹೇಮಂತ್.

ನಾವಿಬ್ಬರೂ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ವಿಚಾರಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ‘ಬ್ಯೂಟಿ’ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ, “ಮಗ್ನೇ, Beauty invariably comes with a package”  ಅಂತ ಹೇಮಂತ್ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದರು. ಮಾಜಿ ಭುವನ ಸುಂದರಿ ಸುಷ್ಮಿತಾ ಸೇನ್ ಅವರ ಸಂದರ್ಶನಗಳನ್ನು ಓದುವಾಗ, ಟೀವಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡುವಾಗ ಹೇಮಂತ್ ಹೇಳಿದ ಮಾತು ನೆನಪಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ‘ಸ್ಟಾರ್ ವರ್ಲ್ಡ್’ನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಸಾರವಾಗುವ ‘Rendezvous’  ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ವೇಳೆ, “ವಿಕ್ರಮ್ ಭಟ್ ಜತೆಗಿನ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಮುರಿದು ಬಿದ್ದಿದ್ದೇಕೆ?” ಎಂದು ಸಿಮಿ ಗ್ರೆವಾಲ್ ಕೇಳಿದಾಗ, “Every relationship comes with an expiry date, sometimes we die before expiry date” ” ಎಂದು ಉತ್ತರಿಸಿದ್ದರು ಸುಷ್ಮಿತಾ ಸೇನ್. ಆಕೆಯ ಮಾತುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂದೆಂತಹ ಸತ್ಯ ಅಡಗಿದೆಯಲ್ಲವೆ? ಎಲ್ಲ ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳಿಗೂ ಒಂದು ಕೊನೆ ಇದೆ. ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ನಾವು ಬದುಕಿರುತ್ತೇವೆ, ಆದರೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳು ನಮ್ಮ ಕಣ್ಣೆದುರಿಗೇ ಕಡಿದು ಹೋಗಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ಮತ್ತೆ ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ಪ್ರಾಯವಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಕಣ್ಣು ಮುಚ್ಚುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಹಾಗೇ ಉಳಿದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಸುಷ್ಮಿತಾ ಸೇನ್ ‘ರೀಡರ್ಸ್ ಡೈಜೆಸ್ಟ್’ ಮ್ಯಾಗಝಿನ್‌ಗೆ ಒಂದು ಸಂದರ್ಶನ ನೀಡಿದ್ದರು. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಆಕೆ ‘ಬ್ಯೂಟಿ’ಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕೆಲ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಿಮಗೂ ಇಷ್ಟವಾಗಬಹುದು, ಮುಂದೆ ಓದಿ….

On her life after winning the Miss Universe…

SS: Oh God, that year! I went to 33 countries. I was often a state guest. I would sign in books in which I would see the signatures of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. I was living a dream.

In my first appearance in Acapulco, Mexico, I was sitting at the head of a huge table with Barbara, my travel manager, and the tourism minister, the health minister and other big shots. I was starving and these people were just going on talking to each other. So I turned to Barbara and said, “Please can we just go to the loo and eat something? I can’t take this any more.” She smiled and said, “You’re the guest of honour. Till you touch fork to plate they can’t. I am sure they are very hungry too!”

On being beautiful..

SS: Beauty for me is not something you can see. It’s what you can’t see. Beauty is the fabulous looking cover that attracts your attention to a book. But it’s the material that holds your attention or you put the book down no matter how good the cover. I have always believed the book inside me is far more beautiful.

On her unconventional lifestyle…

SS: But there is no other way to be! My life is unique to myself. There is no handbook for living; the only thing that you have got is your own sense of rhythm. But you have to live your life in a way that doesn’t damage anybody else.

On choosing which child to adopt…

SS: I called out “Renee” to the babies they showed me and the one that reacted was her.

On fighting for the baby’s adoption…

SS: A baby between six to eight months old, healthy and happy, and female. Those were the only requirements. She didn’t have to look like me, she could be fairer, darker. . . But they’d made a mistake when they brought this child out because she was not fit for adoption. Her head circumference was not that of a six-month-old baby because she’d been pumped with an immense amount of antibiotics. They’d predicted that within a year she would be mentally disabled. So they said, “We cannot give you this baby.”

I threw the biggest fit. I said, “I have just made a connection with this child. I can’t leave her here.” So I went to Nanavati Hospital, and took a few paediatricians back to the orphanage.

They said she’s not fit. So I went to a friend of mine who was also a paediatrician and said nobody will let me have this baby until I get a clear certificate saying there is hope. So he checked the baby and her reactions and said, “There’s always hope. But she needs to spend time with lots of intelligent people who constantly talk to her to keep her mind ticking.” The orphanage gave up and gave me the baby under foster care.

On raising her child despite the baby’s condition and her hectic schedule…

SS: There were always people around to satisfy her psychological and educational needs. The standard rule was that when she woke up everybody would chat with her non-stop. She picked up languages because everybody was constantly talking to her. She speaks fluent Marathi because of the daima. She speaks fluent English because of all of us. She also speaks fluent Bengali and fluent Tamil.