A Love Duet

 COLUMN: Spouse's Turn 

Deepthi talks about life with the singer Vidhu Prathap 

Photo by Kaviyoor Santhosh

By Shevlin Sebastian

One August morning, in 2008, Deepthi and Vidhu Prathap bought a map and entered the Singapore zoo. “When we walked in, we saw that all the people were walking in the opposite direction,” says Deepthi. “We wondered why. But we continued to walk ahead. After a while, we reached another gate, but that turned out to be the entrance. It was then that we realised that we had entered the park through the exit, which explained why all the people were going past us.”

Deepthi laughs as she recounts this. “You can't blame us, because this was the first time we were together in a foreign country,” she says. The couple had gone to Singapore for their honeymoon, following their marriage, on August 20, 2008, at Thiruvananthapuram. It was a day she will not forget easily, not only since it was their wedding day, but because there was an All-India bandh.

“People kept calling from the early morning to ask whether the wedding had been postponed,” says Deepthi. “But we did not do so. And by the grace of God, all the guests were able to come.”

But there were tense moments for Deepthi. The beautician backed off at the last moment, because of the bandh. “That was upsetting, even though I had assured her I would send a car along with a police escort,” she says. “In the end, I had to do my own make-up.”

Deepthi met Vidhu for the first time at the former's dance teacher Girija's school. “Vidhu had come to see Girija's brother,” she says. “I was introduced to Vidhu as the person who sang the 'Meesa Madhavan' song. Since he had just passed out of Mar Ivanios College, which is where I did my graduation, we had a few mutual friends.”

In 2003, some of the seniors were planning a music video. They asked Deepthi to do a dance sequence, while Vidhu did the singing. “That was when Vidhu and I worked together,” she says. “But there were no sparks between the two of us.”

However, following a marriage between Vidhu and Deepthi's cousins, a few relatives felt that they could be a good combination. So, they told Vidhu's father.

When Vidhu heard that his father was planning to send a proposal to Deepthi's parents, he told his family that since he knew Deepthi, he would ask her whether it was okay.

“I said it would be fine, as long as our horoscopes are okay,” says Deepthi. “Both our families observed the horoscopes very strictly.”

In the end, it all worked out fine.

Asked about her husband's plus points, Deepthi says, “When he goes for concerts he meets all types of people. Though most treat him well, there have been some bitter experiences. But Vidhu always remains cool, no matter what the provocation.”

He is also a family person. “Whereever he goes, for his shows, he prefers that either his father or I go along with him,” says Deepthi. “And even if the programmes finish late, he likes to come back home, because he enjoys home food.”

Not many people know that Vidhu is a die-hard foodie. “He loves all kinds of food,” says Deepthi. “Vidhu told me that if he had not been a singer he would have been a chef. In his spare time, he is always watching food shows on TV.”

When Vidhu had gone to Australia for an eight-city tour, at one place, he saw that they were selling crocodile meat. “Immediately, he stood in the queue to buy it,” says Deepthi. “I told him that he had to perform in shows. What will happen if he fell sick?”

Deepthi got an answer to that question in April. A day before he left for a programme in Dubai, Vidhu was playing cricket with a few boys near his house at Thiruvananthapuram. Suddenly, the ball hit Vidhu's eye. He felt that something was hindering his eyesight. So, he was taken to the hospital. After tests, the doctors put a large patch over his eye and told him to take rest for two days.

Meanwhile, the family advised Vidhu to cancel the programme. But Vidhu was determined to go. And his logic was simple. “Vidhu said the brochure was ready and all the tickets had been sold,” says Deepthi. “It would not be right to cancel the programme and cause a loss to the organisers.”

Nevertheless, Vidhu has his drawbacks. “If I tell him about a wedding in the family it would seem he is listening, but, later, when the particular family members talk about it, he will have no recollection,” says Deepthi. “Then they will think I have not informed Vidhu.”

Sometimes, his tolerance can be a drawback. “I feel there should be times when Vidhu should make a stand,” says Deepthi. “But his reasoning is that he does not want to cause distress. But I tell him that if you are being ill-treated, there is no point in being nice.”

Asked for tips for a good marriage, Deepthi says, “You will enjoy your marriage if you have an understanding with your spouse. You should be transparent and have love for each other. If there is love, all the problems can be solved.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)