Pooja Bedi recently spoke about her late mother, Protima Bedi, and the remarkable life she led. Protima, a model-turned-dancer, was known for living life on her own terms. She died in the mountains at 49, and her body was never found.
What's Happening
- Reflecting on her mother's legacy, Pooja said she regrets that Protima Bedi died before turning 50.
- In an interview with Screen, she said, "There are so many regrets about her leaving the planet before she even turned 50. There is so much that I wish I had done with her. But she was a woman who lived life on her terms. She lived the way she wanted, and she literally died the way she wanted. She always said she wanted to die out in nature and, you know, be one with nature."
- Pooja recalled how Protima had always been clear about wanting to merge with nature rather than go through traditional rituals. "At the end of this beautiful, glorious life, she didn't want to be pushed into some crematorium with a mock ceremony of her ashes being put in the Ganga. She wanted to die out in nature; that was going to be a grand finale. And that's exactly the way it panned out. Her body was never found. You know, it was one with the universe, one with the earth. She was just this incredible energy."
- When asked if her mother had a sense of what was to come, Pooja shared, "She came to me, wrote out her will, handed me her jewellery, handed me all her documents, handed me her property papers, and said, 'You never know.' I said, 'Why are you being so dramatic?' And she just said, 'You never know, darling.' She'd handed me everything that she ever possessed. And she said, 'Siddhartha's (Pooja's brother) no more, he's committed suicide. I've handed over Nrityagram to Lynn Fernandez; you're my only mooring. I want you to let me go.'"
Protima Bedi's Letter To Daughter Pooja
Protima later travelled to Kullu Manali and sent her daughter, Pooja, a letter reflecting on her life. "And she went off to Kulu Manali, wrote me a 12-page letter summarising her entire life from birth, from her childhood, to her relationships, to her marriages, to her kids, to her dance journey, to where she was before her death, saying, 'I'm in Kullu, Kullu means Valley of the Gods, and may all the gods and goddesses know of my eternal gratitude, I'm happy. I'm so very, very happy.' And then she went off, and that was the last we ever heard from her. So what a journey, what a life, what a woman, what a mother," Pooja concluded.
