'To have babies in our family after so long is such a blessing.'
Hema Malini's youngeR daughter Ahana gave birth to twin daughters on November 26, and the proud grandmother is over the moon.
"To have babies in our family after so long is such a blessing," she tells Subhash K Jha.
"After my daughters Esha and Ahana were born, there was a very long gap when there were no babies around us. When Esha and Ahana grew up, got married and moved out, my husband Dharamji and I prayed to be grandparents."
"Ahana and her husband Vaibhav wanted to have twins. They had even decided the names for their twin daughters: Astraia and Adea. Ahana already has a son, who is so cute. I call him little Krishna. Now there are two little girls, so it's a full house."
Hemaji sees this prolonged lockdown period as the ideal time for grandparenting.
"Ever since Ahana got pregnant, I have been shuttling between my home and hers. It is my only outing during the pandemic. Now that there are three children to be looked after at Ahana's residence, I will be spending as much time with them as possible. Ahana's in-laws's residence is close to mine," she adds.
But the Dream Girl claims she is a hands-off mom.
"I do not interfere with either Esha or Ahana's lives. They are both capable of taking their own decisions. Then they have very capable husbands," she says.
"I am very proud of my sons-in-law. All decisions are taken by my daughters, their husbands and the husbands's parents. After them, I'm there for anything. Even regarding spending time with Ahana's babies, I will make sure I will be there only when they need me."
Dharmendra is thrilled by the new arrivals in the family.
"Dharamji says, 'Hamara phulwari bada ho raha hai ()'," she says with a laugh. "With Esha's two daughters and Ahana's three children, I couldn't have asked for more."
Any plans of celebrating the new arrivals?
"On the eleventh day, we will have a formal naam-karan for the twins. It will be a family affair, just us and Ahana's in-laws. Next year, hopefully, things will be normal again, and we will have a grand first birthday party for the twins."
