Sunita Ahuja on Her Soona-Soona Diwali and First with Govinda

Sunita Ahuja has always been blunt, and her latest Diwali reflection is no different. In a chat with Pinkvilla, Govinda’s wife looks back at how the festival has changed in her home – and why the house now feels what she calls “soona-soona”.

A full house becomes a quiet one

The older Diwalis in the Ahuja household were built around people. Sunita remembers her mother-in-law, nephews and children all under one roof, with the house constantly moving. That version of the festival is gone. Her mother-in-law has passed away, and the children have grown up and moved into their own rhythms.

She is refreshingly honest about not putting pressure on them. Sunita says she cannot ask her grown children to stay home only for her, and she does not want to disturb anyone. That sentence matters: it shifts the story from loss to a very adult acceptance that family rituals change.

• Her mother-in-law, once a central part of the celebration, is no longer with them.
• The children are adults now, with their own schedules and commitments.
• She says she cannot ask anyone to stay back, so the house feels emptier.

Small rituals still carry the festival

Sunita has not stepped away from Diwali. She still lights diyas at home and treats herself to sweets, with one practical caveat: she has diabetes, so she has to be careful about what she eats. Her framing is simple – she now creates her own happiness. It is a quiet version of celebration, but it is still a celebration.

The first Diwali after marriage

She also returns to a sweeter memory: her first Diwali as Govinda’s wife. Her mother-in-law gave her a beautiful saree and a gold set, a gesture that has stayed with her. In classic Sunita style, though, she balances the nostalgia with a joke. Govinda, she says, has grown a little miserly with gifts over the years, and the presents don’t come the way they used to.

The couple’s backstory adds to the charm. They married secretly on May 11, 1987, and welcomed their daughter on July 16, 1989. Govinda made the marriage public only after their daughter was born, and the couple later had a son.

Why this lands with fans

The comments arrive at a moment when public interest in Sunita and Govinda’s marriage has been running high. She does not use the conversation to address that speculation directly. Instead, she stays with family, time and the changing shape of a festival. For fans who grew up on Govinda’s films, there is something quietly touching about seeing the household behind the stardom face the same empty-nest feeling as anyone else.

Bollywood usually presents Diwali as a maximalist family affair. Sunita’s version is smaller and more honest. The rituals remain – diyas, mithai, a careful eye on sugar – but the volume has lowered. That is not a sad ending; it is a real one.

There is also a small lesson for anyone whose festival looks different this year: you do not need the identical crowd to keep the tradition alive. Sunita’s approach – light the diya, enjoy a sweet within your limits, honour the past without demanding the present repeat it – is a workable template. The house may feel “soona-soona”, but it is still filled with memory.

Source: The Times of India