Jackie Shroff recalls watching his teenage brother die trying to save a friend: I dont want to dig the trauma out
Actor Jackie Shroff looked back on losing his brother and parents, and said that he still lives with the trauma. Jackie watched his teenage elder brother drown before his eyes, trying to save a friend. He said in an interview that when his mother died, he wanted to die too, as he looked back fondly on their bond. He said in an interview with Lehren Retro that generosity is in his genes. "I saw my daddy go, I saw my brother go. I've seen it with my eyes, and my mother." Asked about his brother's death, Jackie said, "I was there, I was 10 years old. I saw it." The actor said that he remembers the incident, and that it isn't something one can forget. "That's trauma, it's inside. It has to be, I don't know where it is. I don't want to dig it out. It's the good memories that last longer with me. I know it's a tragic thing, but a lot of people go through tragedy, it's normal." Jackie said that it's fair to say that his brother was his first hero. "For friends, he was all out. We've learnt the same thing, we can burn our house to give warmth to someone else. He was 17, I was 10. He did a lot of good things. He gave his life for a friend, which is huge." In an earlier interaction with writer Twinkle Khanna, Jackie said that his father had warned his brother to not leave the house that day. Bhai ko bola tha, aaj kharab din hai, mat jaana bahar (He told my brother its a bad day and that he shouldnt leave the house), Jackie recalled. He used to work at Century Mills. He was a mill hand. He said dont go to your mill today. And he didnt. But he went down to save somebody in the sea, and he drowned, without knowing how to swim.
Friday, May 19, 2023 at 6:03 am