In the rare case when someone does not know his name, his voice would be nonetheless uncannily familiar; raw, high-pitched, with a hint of the rustic but undoubtedly soulful and pining. Well, arguably he is peerless in celebrating the joy as well as poignancy felt in love, but what is it really that sustains this diminutive and unassuming bard from Meerut?
“I treat my body as a temple,” he says, “the purity and cleanliness of what I am eating and the hygiene of my body… it keeps me going and makes me feel fresh and excited all the time and in whatever I do.”
The day begins early for Kailash Kher, with the sipping of “water boiled with basil leaves, lime juice and sprigs of lemongrass.” The reason behind this peculiar concoction follows: “I travel a great deal, so a lot of dust and grime passes into my system and settles in and around my throat. This warm water helps in cleansing it.”
Once the throat is taken care of, a simple breakfast of mainly “fruits and egg white” follows. Exercises too are a de rigueur, but sadly become possible “only when at home in Mumbai.” Interestingly, Kher trains with celebrity fitness trainer Bala Shetty, who guides him through a series of compound physical exercises. “It is done entirely by using one's own body; there are no equipments that are used. These exercises completely use the power of your body.”
Reeling back, Kher reveals, “During my growing up years I did a lot of yoga and meditation and I still keep up with that. It has proved to be a blessing. Also, I am a light eater and a very regulated one at that. After all, all this is stipulated in our scriptures, you see, as a path to a long and healthy life.”
Lunch is simple and preferably vegetarian dishes from North India. Curiously, Kher has a penchant for homemade fare, a yearning that is satiated occasionally both inland and overseas by the love and hospitality of the adoring fans!
His choice of evening drink well reflects his Kashmiri roots — the Kahwa spiced with saffron sent by relatives from Srinagar brightens his dusks, so it seems. “Well, this is the time. Life has given me the opportunity to live like a king. So why not? Why should I deny myself some pleasures which I have earned the pretty hard way?”
However, when abroad jasmine tea substitutes the Kahwa, and fruits and boiled egg whites available easily everywhere become a saviour. In fact, fruits are seemingly a prime source of sustenance for Kher, who prefers munching on them even in between his meals if panged by hunger.
Dinner is a minimalist Indian affair. He started having fish of late, the boneless variant strictly, and boiled egg whites too once more find their way to his platter often.
“I become very angry when when I go to a hotel and people suggest to me paneer, when I am actually asking for a vegetable,” he tells bemusedly. “If I really were to have any paneer in the first place it would be made fresh and with pure milk.” This sounded so much in line with his fondness for the natural and desi (indigenous). A small disaster with Mexican fare in America made him more adherent to the culinary traditions closer home, even insistent.
So when was the last holiday, to unwind and relax from the grime and gruel inflicted on him by show business? Not in a really long time, it seems. “It's been three years since I got married and I even haven't been on a honeymoon,” he rues. Albeit he has found the means to snatch bits of pleasure by retiring to his farmhouse in Lonavala, sometimes when time permits. “I feel I am in nature's lap… there is lot of peace and love that I feel in that place. It's truly a beautiful experience and I really love it,” he signs off on a wistful note.
