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Alka Yagnik & Neeraj
"When distance makes the heart go fonder"
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Songstress Alka Yagnik says her vanwaas is over. She has now bridged the gap between Mumbai and Shillong. They are as different as chalk and cheese. She is a singer. He a businessman. Though their world encompasses widely divergent interests, they have been together for 14 years and still remain so. ShaadiTimes tries to figure out the secret to their successful marriage...
She employs her maiden name because it is famous. But in real life, the Queen of Playback has been Alka Neeraj Kapoor for more than 14 years.In the Hindi film industry her marriage remains the only example proving the adage "Distance makes the heart go fonder." More important, Alka is happy that she and hubby Neeraj Kapoor (who is so low-profile he does not wish to be photographed by the press) have proved wrong all those who prophesized that their marriage would flounder on the rocks of practical nitti-grittys.
'It's been over 14 years, so the vanwaas is over!' quips Alka. 'We have settled down to a routine where he comes down as much as he can and I move to Shillong whenever my daughter has vacations.'The impossible romance bloomed when Alka was en route to the Vaishnodevi shrine in 1986. 'He is a nephew of mummy's childhood friend and came to pick us up at Delhi railway station as we were making a stopover. Our train reached there early morning and he came in his pyjamas and my first impression was what kind of guy would do this! Later he told me that his first impression of me was a very glamorous woman alighting perfectly spruce from a train journey despite the early hours!
'Romance was a gradual invader. 'We became friendly; he even dropped in when he visited Mumbai,' says Alka. 'It took six months for Cupid to strike. But there was this big problem. 'Alka goes on, 'That was the time my career was showing the first signs of picking up. He had a flourishing family business in Shillong as the distributor for Mohan Meakin Breweries in the entire North-East Indian segment.
When we announced our interest in each other, it was to a barrage of opposition. After all, I resided in the extreme West of India and he in the extreme East! 'Says Alka, 'We were asked, "What kind of marriage is this?" They warned us that our bond would not last. But we were adamant, so they finally gave in.'Alka and Neeraj married in February 1989, months after she hit big-time with Tezaab. An exotic Hong Kong honeymoon followed. The initial years saw the couple meet frequently, even after daughter Sayesha was born in December the same year.But then came the challenges. Adds Alka, 'I became busier than I ever imagined after 1990, especially after my first award for "Ek do teen char." Till Sayesha reached school-going age, I visited Shillong frequently, while Neeraj, who frequently travelled on business trips, would visit Mumbai frequently. But once school began, my trips to Assam were restricted to bi-annual vacations,' says Alka. 'Many times we could go down, but Neeraj would be out on his tours.
'Alka admits that some hiccups did arise at this stage, as he was missing her and their daughter terribly. 'It is he who has done the maximum sacrifices and adjustments in our marriage, especially when we went through a traumatic phase some years ago when we almost parted ways. But we sat down and discussed it out and solved our problems, because I think that the basic bond was always there.'Neeraj even tried to launch a business in Mumbai. 'But he is this simple small-town guy and he got cheated of a huge sum of money by Mumbai's slickers,' says Alka. 'So I told him that he should go back to Shillong and not let his business there get affected.
'How do things stand today? 'We talk almost every day on the 'phone, as with Sayesha entering the tenth standard, it will be even more difficult to work in visits to Shillong,' says Alka. 'But I think that by now we have reached the complete understanding and trust that builds up within couples with time. He has realized that I can be happy only when involved in music and that I cannot leave it. He has accepted that and told me, 'Be happy.' But there are moments when he says half in jest,"Duniya mein aur koi nahin mila kya"?
Alka feels that her marriage with Neeraj was destined. 'Before I met him, I had received so many proposals from singers and composers! ' And she is crystal clear about one point: 'Neither of us have regretted marrying each other.
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Rajiv Vijayakar
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