“There is a lot of prejudice that comes from being a celebrity kid. Like for one, people always assume that I have the best of the opportunities knocking at my door without any effort from my end. Or that, I would automatically choose the field that my parents were in. Or that, I should have the command over a specific subject. But moving past all the society mandated lens, I would say that my journey to put myself and my work out there is no different than anybody else. It is true that I hold a privilege compared to others but after bagging the opportunity, the onus is on me to perform to the best. And when that falls through, the shame and the disappointment of the failure is triple times more than somebody who doesn’t hold the same privilege as mine.
The path to where I am right now did not come with a lot of support from the family end. I had to fight my way through so many unfortunate circumstances. For one, I was not allowed to study abroad stating the usual family drama that the girl child will move out marrying into another home thereby restricting my education and independence. I was forced into an engineering college but somehow I pushed myself to not be an engineer at any cost and started to explore writing and fashion designing. And throughout the college years, people always gave me the preferential treatment and made sure to call me up on stages just to bring in more publicity and eyeballs to their events.
There was even a particularly horrible incident where my department HOD tried to misbehave with me taking a practical examination as a reason. But this is where I realised that inner strength and courage is far more important than an exam and an arrear. I dealt him with a tight slap, which will stand as a reminder for him any time he tries to misbehave with a girl. It did get me arrears but my decision towards that made me even stronger to face the world. Being a department topper, without my fault or reason I missed my university rank, but that is the cost of that experience and lesson for life.
I was forcefully coerced to get married to a stranger which I then had to fight off with all my will. And being the elder daughter in the family, I witnessed my mother get into pregnancy for my brother the post partum depression days that followed after. To say that it has been quite a ride would be an understatement. All of this is to say that I didn’t have it all easy; if anything, my dad still doesn’t endorse the idea of referring his kids to the industry officials. But the one thing that remains undefeated through it all is my drive to prove myself in this world.
Being a media professional in a highly competitive field is a tough sport, especially when you are a woman. Myths are wide but till date, whatever space I occupy professionally is all due to my own hard work and determination alone. I toiled hard to erase the shadow of my dad and hoist myself up on the radar of upcoming industry artists. I worked as a journalist with certain publications before opening up my own magazine which I have been successfully running for the past year and a half.
Not everyone has a level playing field in this world and it is always good to be cognizant of everything before we drop a prejudice about a person. Despite being from an acknowledged background, I would say that I worked for everything that I have in my life right now and I am so proud of myself for that. All these struggles if anything has only emboldened my spirit and I hope to continue to strive to work towards my goals and dreams. If not anything else, it would make one hell of a story to leave behind.”
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