A week after her mother and veteran actress Sridevi's sudden demise, her elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor says there's a "gnawing hollowness" within her. She has penned an emotional note urging people to cherish their parents.
Janhvi, one of the two daughters Sridevi had with film producer Boney Kapoor, will turn 21 on March 7. She is also gearing up for the release of her maiden Bollywood outing "Dhadak".
Following a week of grappling with the shocking news of her mother's demise due to accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub in Dubai, Janhvi has penned her sentiments in a note posted on her official Instagram page.
It reads: "On my birthday, the only thing I ask of all of you is that you love your parents. Cherish them and devote yourself to making them feel that love. They have made you. And I ask that you remember my mother fondly, pray for her soul to rest in peace."
Janhvi, who has sibling Khushi, said their parents shared immense love and there shouldn't be any attempts to "tarnish" that.
"Their love is immortal because there was nothing like it in the whole world. Nothing as joyful and pure and no two people as devoted to one another as they were. Please respect that because it hurts to think anyone would ever try to tarnish it.
"Preserving the sanctity of what they had would mean the world not only to my mother but also to a man whose entire being revolved around her, and her two children who are all that remains of their love," she said, adding that Boney has lost his "jaan".
Of her mother, Janhvi said: "She didn't understand frustration or malice or jealousy. So let's be that. Let's be full of only good and give only love. That would make her happy, to know that even in death, she gave you all something. The courage and inspiration to fill yourselves with nothing but love and rid yourselves of bitterness in any way and form. That's what she stood for. Dignity, strength and innocence."
In an accompanying image, Janhvi shared a heartfelt note on her emotions of losing her "best friend" and "reason for everything".
"Nothing anyone said mattered, no problem was big enough and no day could ever be dull because I had you... And I didn't have to rely on anyone or anything because the only person I ever needed was you," she wrote.
As Janhvi steps into films with Shashank Khaitan-directed "Dhadak" -- releasing in July -- she says she is only going to work towards making her mother "proud".
"Every morning, all that I would do was (wake up) with the hope that one day you'd be as proud of me as I was of you. But I promise I'll wake up every day with the same thought. Because you're here and I can feel you."
She signed off the note with, "I love you, my everything."
Sridevi went to Dubai to attend a family wedding. She was accompanied by Boney and Khushi, but Janhvi could not be there as she had work commitments.
