Neeraj Madhav with his family. (courtesy officialhumansofbombay)
Highlights
- "I met her at a coaching centre," wrote Neeraj
- "I couldn't confirm it but I knew it was her," he added
- "For the first time, I felt butterflies," he wrote
Neeraj Madhav, best-known for playing the antagonist Moosa Rehman in the first season of the popular Indian web series The Family Man, shared some lesser-known facets of his life in his piece for Humans Of Bombay. Simply put, the 31-year is a family man in real life. In his post, Neeraj opened up about his "first crush" and the woman he ended up marrying (both are different people). Recalling his school days, Neeraj wrote: "I've studied in an all-boys school which meant I had little female interaction. So dating someone was out of the question because I was awkward around girls. That was until the 12th grade-that's when I had my first crush." He added, "I met her at a coaching centre; she was in another batch. We bumped into each other at the water dispenser; I noticed her kohl rimmed big brown eyes. They were so captivating. For the first time, I felt butterflies. The rest of the day was a blur, but I remember smiling a lot."
Neeraj's unrequited love story was the definition of adorably honest and old-school. "Every day, I'd look forward to my classes. We didn't speak, but sometimes, she'd smile at me and I'd turn into a red tomato! We boarded buses from different stops, but I'd wait at her stop till she left and then walk towards mine. It was our little ritual. Some of my school friends waited with me and pushed me to speak to her but I couldn't. So, what followed was sheer embarrassment," he wrote recalling the old times.
This was the time when there was no Facebook and Neeraj didn't even own a phone but that did not keep him away from staying in touch with his crush. "Meanwhile, I was training for a dance reality show. And so, when I got in, I left my classes. My last day there was the last time I saw her. Back then there was no FB and I didn't have a phone; there was no way of staying in touch. Over time, I moved out of the city. But I'd think about her sometimes. And then once, a girl called me. She didn't say who she was but she knew about the shirt I wore on my farewell and my favourite food joint in my hometown. I couldn't confirm it but I knew it was her! Obviously it didn't turn out to be anything," an excerpt from his post read.
A few years later, Neeraj married Deepthi in 2018 and they welcomed a baby girl in February this year. He clarified that the woman mentioned in the post is not his wife but an "unfulfilled school-time crush." He wrote in the comments: "Hi everyone, let me clear the confusion. No they are not the same people. The story mentioned here is of an unfulfilled school-time crush, which we were discussing on the connect of my upcoming Netflix series Feels Like Love. I met my wife much later and that's a different story which I will tell you some other time. Cheers!"
Neeraj added that a lot has changed in a span of 10 years (all for good). "This was over 10 years ago; so much has changed since then. Today, I'm married to the love of my life and have a beautiful baby girl. And while I'm amazed that as a teenager I felt such strong emotions for someone, love for me now is no longer about the butterflies but rather about the feeling of coming home," he wrote.
Read Neeraj Madhav's post here:
Neeraj Madhav, will next be seen in Feels Like Ishq, the trailer of which will be out on June 30. Besides The Family Man, Neeraj Madhav is known for starring in Memories, Drishyam, Charlie, Oozham and Lava Kusha, for which he was also the scriptwriter. He also starred in Paipin Chuvattile Pranayam, Rosapoo and Mamankam.