Aishwarya Sakhuja: For me, Army Day is as important as Republic Day

Aishwarya Sakhuja is a proud Army kid as she admits that she beams with joy when her father, Col (retd) Sudhir Kumar Sakhuja, gets to enjoy a fan moment as a real life hero. In fact, she says Army Day is a reminder of how close she is to her Army roots.

“Everybody has a sense of belonging when it comes to a certain town or a city. For me, that sense of belonging comes from the Army. Army gives me that sense of belonging. Because that is the environment I was raised in,” Sakhuja says.

The actor continues, “Growing up as an Army kid has made my foundation different as compared to the people who are not exposed to the Army environment. For me, Army day is as important as Independence Day or Republic Day because the Army is family”.

How did growing up as an Army kid changed your outlook towards everything?

“I became more adaptable. Because every two years, we are just uprooted from a place that we have just started to call it home, because papa ki posting change ho gai. And don’t have a choice but to have that sense of adapting to change… You just end up becoming a lot more confident, it is the only thing that takes us forward and allows us to make new friendships,” she says.

Here, she recalls a recent incident when she went to her father’s regiment centre in Wellington, Tamil Nadu.

“That is where I was born. Usually people, because of the nature of my profession, come up to me and talk. But there it was completely opposite. People were having fan moments with my father because of the way he commanded his regiment, and relationships that he has formed in the past 40 years of service. It was very overwhelming for me to see people respect and acknowledge that,” says the actor.

When asked about the onscreen portrayal of the Army, Sakhuja says, “Representation of the Army has always been good”.

“People look up to the Army. It has made a name for itself, and is always held with that dignity and respect for everything they do for us. So, they don’t need a film telling us. We all know it already,” she ends.