It has been a tough and emotionally tiresome year for everyone. Since last year, the different spells of Covid-19 lockdowns throughout the country have led to people living in different cities, isolated from their families as well as friends.

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Indian TV actor Mohit Malhotra is one of those many people who lives on his own in Mumbai and the 27-year-old New Delhi actor says that things could have been very difficult for him had he not had the support of his house help, Bharti, who he considers a part of his family.

The Naagin 5 actor, while talking to the Humans of Bombay, spoke about his close bond with Bharti. “For the past 12 years, I've been living alone in Mumbai. With my hectic work schedule and night shoots, managing everything on my own was challenging; my entire schedule was messed up, until Bharti, my house help, started working for me. Since 2013, she's literally taken over my kitchen and home! She'd call up my mom and ask for my favorite dishes... She learned to use Google to make new recipes–her Thai curry is out of this world,” he said.

Mohit also spoke on how Bharti has become his mom's spy by even keeping a tab on his diet and the amount of junk food in it. “Within just a few months, she became like family. Whenever I was feeling low, she'd make amazing Rajma chawal. And when I came back home late and ordered junk, she'd find the untouched dishes in my refrigerator and be like– ‘Bhaiya, aap bahut unhealthy kha rahe ho' (Brother, you are eating a lot of unhealthy food). After a point, she became my mom's jasoos (spy)–if I didn't eat properly or was stressed out, she'd call my mom up...” said Mohit. 

The actor said that over the course of the years, both of them have been making sure that they take care of each other, in any manner possible. With time, Bharti soon became like a sister to the actor - and he even funded her son's education. “She was like the older sister I never had. I'm even close to her son, Rohit–once, he told me that he wants to study well and get a Master's degree. I was aware of Bharti's financial condition, so I paid for his education. He's like my nephew," added Mohit. 

“When the lockdown happened in 2020, I was stuck in Delhi. Since Bharti worked only for me, I knew she was out of a job. So, I continued sending her salary. And every other day, she'd text me to enquire about mine and mom's health; we both looked out for each other. 3 months later, the day I came back to Mumbai, Bharti was already there! She'd kept ghar ka khana (home-cooked food) ready…” said Mohit. 

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