I am Delhi ki bahu, says TV actress Gurdeep Kohli

TV actress Gurdeep Kohli, known for playing the role of a doctor in the medical drama 'Sanjivani', was in the city recently to promote her upcoming show, Sethji. We spent some time with the actress, who talked about her long association with Delhi.
'I love visiting the M-Block market in GK'
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Gurdeep met her husband, Arjun Punj, on the sets of a TV serial, soon after which they got married.Gurdeep shares, "Technically, I am Delhi ki bahu, as my husband belongs to Delhi. I love spending my holidays in the city. Whenever I am in the city, I make sure that I go shopping as Delhi has the best shopping spots. We live in Greater Kailash and I love visiting the M-block market with my husband. He keeps introducing me to new things in the city."

Delhi is the best place for ethnic shopping
Gurdeep will be seen playing the role of a traditional Maharashtrian woman who is the head of a small village in Maharashtra. She feels that every traditional outfit is unique in its own way. But the actress personally likes wearing salwar-kameez and prefers Delhi for shopping for ethnic wear. She says, "Until now, I never got a chance to flaunt flamboyant Indian outfits because I have always played very subtle, realistic characters."
"But for this show, I have to dress up like a traditional Maharashtrian woman, who wears a Nauvari sari. Being a Punjabi, I love wearing salwar-kameez and Delhi is the best place to shop for that," she adds.

'Love Delhi’s chholey kulche'
The actress is currently hosting two cookery shows on TV and she says that she loves Delhi ka khaana. "I love Delhi ke chholey kulche. In fact, this place is a foodie's paradise. I am a cook myself, and I love eating and serving food," she says. Growing up in a Sikh family, Gurdeep learned cooking skills at gurudwaras. She shares, "We are taught to do seva in Gurudwaras right from a young age. I started cooking rotis there and soon developed a passion for cooking."
Gurdeep Kohli poses for DT in Maharashtrian finery at Barakhamba road (BCCL/ Ranjit Kumar)
'I would love to go to National School of Drama'
Gurdeep thinks that being not professionally trained in acting has left a void in her life as an actor, but feels that it requires mostly passion to be one. She says, "Delhi actors are exposed to theatre, which is the knowledge lacked in an actor from Mumbai. Although many theatre groups are now coming up in Mumbai as well, but when I began my career in acting, there were no such activities happening in Mumbai. Given a chance, I would love to go to the National School of Drama to improve my acting skills. I also feel that now when I am doing theatrically intense characters like Ahalya Vinayak Rao in SethJi, my work will be recognized and appreciated in this circle as well."

'I try to inculcate the feeling of equality in my children'
The actress, who is also is a mother to two kids – a seven-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son – thinks that it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children about equality. She says, "It is imperative to have a healthy relationship with your children. I have a very healthy relationship with my mother and want to do the best for my children in the same way. I try to inculcate in my children the feeling of equality. If it is important for my daughter to be efficient in cooking to take care of her family, it is equally important for my son to know how to cook as well because there might be a chance that his wife doesn’t know how to cook. He should be capable enough to cook for himself and his wife."
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