India, March 23 -- Chitra Palekar's peach-hued Bandra home is bathed in the soft glow of the evening when she greeted this writer with a warm smile, and chai and cookies. Taking a break from the whirlwind of activity ahead of the launch of her autobiography 'Tar. ashi aaari gammat' ('And... That's how all the fun happened'), she settles down and says, "Like the reader who would get to know me when they read this book, I had also rediscovered myself while writing."

"There are so many little things to do that sitting down like this makes me both relaxed and guilty," she says animatedly, her gestures betraying the enthusiasm of a teenager rather than that of a 78-year-old theatre and film veteran.

For Palekar, the book (which was released ...