Divya Palat and Aditya Hitkari are quite a team in the world of theatre. Married for some six months, the couple runs a theatre company, Balancing Act Production. They regularly shared space on stage even before they were married and have plays like The Graduate, My Way and The Legend of Ram in their kitty.
Divya first went on screen as a mere six-year-old and modelled for commercials like Surf and Dettol at that age. When she was in college, her passion for acting led her to have a portfolio shot by none other than ace lensman Gautam Rajyadhaksha.

It was no surprise that she made her debut as director during her student days in the University of Stanford. The short film titled Nine Point Five was completed while she was studying for her double major in mathematics and drama. Divya has also appeared in films including Dhund — The Fog, Krishna Cottage, Kuch Na Kaho and Masti.

While Aditya’s first love too is theatre, he started his career as an MTV veejay. He too has modelled for advertisements including Peter England, Maruti Alto and LML Scooty. Aditya however juggles theatre with managing Hitkari Fibres, his father’s company that specialises in automotive flooring.

DIVYA:

It’s been 10 years since we met — and as might be expected, it was our love for theatre that brought us together. I recall our first meeting at Malhar, the annual festival organised by St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. I was representing Jai Hind College and Aditya was holding fort for Sydenham College. He shocked me by walking up to me while I was rehearsing for a play and blankly informed me that he had a crush on me! I didn’t know how to react but simply ignored him thereafter. But after the festival, he persisted and we met several times and much to my own amazement, became the best of friends.

I was very scared of making any sort of long-term commitment and made it clear to him that we should remain friends and perhaps even go our separate ways. But Aditya wouldn’t have any of it. He insisted that we should see each other for at least another month before making any such decision. As it happened, the month turned into a year and there was no getting around the feeling that we were made for each other. But I was still not ready for marriage.

While Aditya was sure from the outset that he wanted me as a life partner, his funny bone was also much in evidence at that time. He came up with a hilarious relationship contract to ensure that that our friendship would mature into marriage. According to the rules of this uproarious contract, in a month we had to watch six Hindi films together and go out for lavish dinners and so on. When I think back, it sounds silly, but in hindsight it helped to nurture our relationship.

Though marriage was always on Aditya’s mind, he never got the right opportunity to propose to me formally. It came at a moment in my life that was most unexpected and traumatic. He proposed to me when I was laid up in a hospital bed with a paralytic stroke that hit my left side. I had lost my speech and was terrified while my family was at their wits end due my condition. Frankly, I couldn’t believe that Aditya would want to choose that moment to convince me of the future of our relationship. But he did, and we were married this year in March.

Marriage has helped me mature a lot though, I am still a chatterbox and fight with Aditya at any given opportunity. He’s the perfect foil to me. He is balanced, composed, stable and has solutions for almost everything. But what I hate most is his obsession with football that occasionally drives me crazy.

Now we celebrate three special days — January 19 when we started dating, June 13 when he proposed and March 16, when we got married. We splurge on these days with lavish dinners and dress to the hilt for the occasion. The phones are kept on silent mode and we don’t let anything intrude on our time together. I feel safe and secure in Aditya’s company and hope to keep the spark alive.

ADITYA:

I still can’t believe that we are married because I took great pains to make this relationship work. The strongest bond between us is theatre and sometimes, I think we eat, breathe and dream theatre. Divya is very restless and for her, theatre is the centre of her universe. She is very passionate about it. We brainstorm a lot and discuss each and every aspect of our work. Basically, we are workaholics.

Both of us are completely different individuals in terms of creativity but we somehow manage to find a middle path. I appreciate the fact that Divya is talented and at the same time, she has good organisational skills. While she is a very fun-loving person, I also love her ability to make people laugh easily.

We have started our production house that produces at least one play a year. Since both of us are rooted in theatre, we are always brimming with concepts. But I should give Divya the credit for coming up with some great ideas. The only thing that I don’t like about her is the fact that she doesn’t stick to one particular idea.

Divya loves to be pampered and we enjoy going out for dinner. I am not a fussy husband and so occasionally accompany her on her shopping excursions. You see, I just want her to be happy.

I am glad that we had a long courtship because it gave us time to get to know each other well. But that’s not to say that we don’t quarrel: we bicker about everything — from
the place where we should go on a holiday to what our next production should be. After marriage, life has changed immensely for us. But what makes us tick is the fact that we allow each other space to grow, and make decisions ourselves. I am very dependent on her and yes, even feel very insecure when she is not around.

As told to Sushmita Biswas