Navya talks about her famous Bachchan clan, working with family and why she stayed away from films

Gulf News

Bollywood royalty, podcast host, entrepreneur talks about her famous Bachchan clan, working with family and why she stayed away from films  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/arts-culture/watch-amitabh-bachchans-grand-daughter-navya-naveli-nanda-talks-womens-empowerment-and-privilege-1.102296991  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Indian #Bachchan

Transcript

00:00For the longest time there was this narrative around women empowerment being

00:04or you have to be that CEO or you have to get the top job and then you're a strong independent

00:08woman but a homemaker is equally as strong, she's equally as independent and that's

00:13what women empowerment is. It's the freedom to make the choice that you want to make

00:17for yourself and whether that's being a homemaker, whether that's being a CEO, whether that's being

00:22whatever you want to be, that is really what the definition of a superwoman is and I don't think

00:28we should look down upon choices that women make. A lot of times I see discussions

00:34around a homemaker is not considered a strong independent woman when I don't think

00:38that's the case. I think she's actually far stronger and far more independent than anyone

00:42out there because she is seeing and facing a very different life at home and one that we don't

00:48appreciate enough. She's responsible for raising a whole generation of people who are

00:53going to change the world someday so that is equally as pressurizing as being a CEO or

00:59leading a company of thousands of people so. I mean are you happy with the kind of response

01:05you're getting for your show since you're working? Yeah, I mean it's been really overwhelming

01:10so much love for season two. I think people are happy that we switched a video that was

01:15something we heard a lot in season one that they wanted to see us so I think that that's

01:20really been a game changer for season two that you know we were on video this time but it's

01:25been great you know very very very grateful for all the love and support that we've gotten for

01:30the show and I'm really sad that the season is almost over. We have two more episodes

01:36left so that's a little sad but it's been a great experience. Right, it's like you know three

01:41generations of women. I thought that intergenerational point and perspective that came

01:46through. Is that why you chose, why would you choose to work with your family because I remember

01:50Navya in J school we were told not to work with family ever. You know don't write about your family

01:56nothing good is going to come of it but you're working with them. Is that a good idea to work

02:00with family? Yeah, I mean so the idea kind of came about during the lockdown. I think we got a lot of

02:06time with each other and you know we all live together so these are conversations that we do

02:10have on a daily basis and my mom Nani and I kind of spend time sitting on the sofa and talking

02:17about life and you know different topics and the idea just kind of popped up that why not do this

02:23as a podcast? Why not have some of these conversations in a public forum? You know more so that

02:29you could see the three different opinions right from three different generations which is very

02:33interesting because a lot of the times they're not the same. A lot of the times there are disagreements

02:39there are agreements also but they're different thoughts and different points of view and I think

02:43that that's always a great thing to put out there in the public forum and I think also the

02:49conversations and the themes and the topics that we kind of curated for each episode are also I

02:55think very relevant to today's youth and just today's context in general. So we felt that

03:00it was nice that we could have some of these conversations and add our thoughts to the

03:05ever-going conversations around these topics as well. Right and Navya the best part is I love

03:11listening to Shweta Bachchan the most, your mom, who throws out like the most sarcastic life lessons

03:17with her very yeah she's got the most sardonic sense of humor. Big favorite I think she has her own

03:22fan base after this podcast because you know people love hearing what she has to say and

03:28she's always got something very insightful and fun you know so I think she's kind of

03:34gathered her own fan base through this podcast as well. Right when I look at the series as well I do

03:41see a portrait of privilege but what is different about it is that you guys are also keenly aware of

03:46it you know and you don't take it lightly I could be wrong but I just feel that you guys

03:51know that you come from a sense of privilege and therefore you use your voice. Did you guys have a

03:56conversation about that maybe at some point people would look at it as a vanity project?

04:00Yeah no I think that we've always been extremely aware of our privilege it's something I have

04:06always talked about since the beginning. I think it's something that I've recognized at each step

04:11in my professional life as well that the fact that I am where I am today is largely due to privilege

04:17and the opportunities that I got at a very young age. I think all three of us are very much aware

04:22of that very conscious of that and also feel a very large sense of responsibility with the privilege

04:27that we have. Having said that I think also some of the conversations we have which we also have

04:33mentioned in the podcast are you know maybe just you know relevant to us because we have lived a

04:39very different life to maybe majority of people listening to the podcast but I think the overall

04:45themes you know whether we've talked about women, whether we've talked about health, whether we've

04:49talked about financial independence, masculinity you know the larger themes from season two.

04:55I think that in general our opinions might align with what people believe as well so I think that

05:00that's really the beauty of it that you know no matter where you come from I think everyone stands

05:05for the right thing, everyone believes in the right thing and especially for us the larger

05:10theme of women empowerment is something that I think all three of us strongly believe in. So

05:14I think irrespective of the background, irrespective of the privilege I think it's

05:18something that we all agree on as a society and I think that that was really what we wanted to

05:24come out of the show is that of course we have our own personal experiences that we share but

05:29there is a larger unified voice that also comes out of the podcast for certain topics and themes.

05:35Now that's so good and Navya there's always this pleasure to be performatively woke these days

05:40right, you need to sound a certain narrative or spin a certain narrative, say the right thing.

05:46Do where you guys, are you guys under pressure to sound woke? No I think see for me I work in

05:51the development sector I've been working in the non-profit sector for the last three and a half

05:56four years so for me the work that I do is my life so the conversations that I have whether it's

06:01at home, whether it's you know with you or whether it's at a public platform are all the same because

06:06this is what I live and breathe every day so for me it's not something that I have to think about

06:11it's something that comes very naturally to me with the kind of profession that I chose. I think

06:15similar for my nani who's you know had so much experience working in an industry where

06:21you know she was started off at the age of 16 and you know she's been an actress and she's seen

06:26the industry change from you know when she started out in the 60s 70s to now so she has

06:32her own opinions right about women and the entire context of where we are today

06:38and I think my mom of course being an author and an entrepreneur herself but also a homemaker

06:44I think she has her own opinions about what and how women are talked about in today's context so

06:48I think it's not something that we actively tried to do but I think just inherently because of the

06:54professions we chose or because of where we are personally in our lives I think it's something that

06:58comes very naturally so I mean I'm glad that it kind of fits into the context and conversation

07:05of today which is you know I wouldn't use the word woke I would say more conscious I think people

07:10are a lot more conscious today about certain things and you know we are as three women from

07:16the same family also very conscious of the context of what's happening in the world today and

07:21I'm glad that we were able to address some of those issues through our cast. Lovely and have

07:27you thought of having the male not just male members from your family but having a male voice

07:32or was it conscious to have it just as a women's only platform perhaps it's you know it's very

07:37rare where women get to bat right still talking about it I think most of the time even when it

07:42comes to wage parity we are a long way off so do you think this is just for women this is like

07:48for women by women is that one of course was the three of us season two we do have an episode where

07:55my brother Agastya oh where my brother Agastya joined in for an episode and the conversation

08:02was around masculinity so this season we also did try to include themes around masculinity

08:08you know we also don't want to exclude men from the conversation around women I very strongly

08:14believe that you know women empowerment is not something we can fully achieve without the support

08:19of the men in our lives they play very very important roles in our lives whether that's

08:24as brothers, colleagues, partners or even friends so I think it's very important to include the men

08:31in conversations that we have around women so we definitely did try to do that this season as well

08:37with my brother and he did a great job he stole the show I think that he was a guest star I mean

08:44he's not like yeah you know it's like he's he's not the bride or the groom right he's a bridesmaid

08:49in that episode yeah he was he was a lot of love that came his way for that conversation and I'm

08:57glad that you know we were slowly able to integrate some themes around men as well in our

09:01show that's that's something that we want to continue doing and hopefully if we have a season

09:05three I would love to have more male guests and you know have their point of view on some of

09:10the issues relating to women you know Navya what I love about you I feel you're on your

09:15own clock I'm I know that women are often told we have the biological clock ticking

09:20real clock ticking but you seem to have just you're marching to your own like time clock I

09:24feel you're not in a hurry to be heard you're not I just feel that you know you're very

09:29comfortable in your own skin and that's not easy right did it always come easy to you or do you

09:34wake up thinking okay what am I doing do you have existentialist angst at any point yeah I mean I

09:40think everyone does at some point I think when you wake up and you kind of see what you have

09:47done in your life you always feel in comparison that there's so much more to do right there's so

09:52much more that has to be achieved and especially when you know you still see that you know we we

09:58haven't achieved gender equality completely or there are certain situations in which you know

10:02women aren't given opportunities that they deserve so I think when you see that around you you feel

10:06that there is so much that has to be done and there's not enough time to complete that or to

10:11do it so that's definitely where the existentialism kicks in that will I be able to achieve this in my

10:17lifetime will I be able to kind of make an impact or you know leave society a better place than I

10:22found it so I think when I start thinking about those things it's definitely you get a sense of

10:29feeling of that you've not done enough but I also keep reminding myself that you know whether it's

10:34achievement or whether it's success and especially in the field of work that I'm in you know impact

10:39is not always necessarily largely in numbers it's also in the quality of the impact and the depth of

10:45the impact so even if I can impact you know one person's life and help them and change their life

10:51that to me is success that to me is an achievement and it doesn't have to be in the scale of thousands

10:56I mean that's the dream to be able to impact people at that level but in our small way in

11:01our daily lives if we can start by even impacting one life I think that's that's a good place to be

11:08right do you have women coming up to you and saying perhaps you know somewhere I saw your

11:12podcast I heard it and I thought you don't have to have it all you know because women want to

11:16have it all right there's always that pressure to have it all and we can't I mean it's a fact

11:20you can't be everything you can't be a superwoman I feel being a superwoman is kind of idealized

11:25I think that's I also think it adds a sense of pressure right there and I think when we talk

11:29about for the longest time there was this narrative around you know women empowerment being

11:34or you have to be that ceo or you have to get the top job and then you're a strong independent woman

11:39but a homemaker is equally as strong she's equally as independent and that's that's what

11:44women empowerment is right it's the freedom to make the choice that you want to make for yourself

11:48and whether that's being a homemaker whether that's being a ceo whether that's being whatever

11:52you want to be that is really what the definition of a superwoman is and I don't think we should

11:58look down upon choices that women make a lot of times I see you know discussions around oh you

12:04know a homemaker is not considered a strong independent woman when I don't think that's

12:09the case I think she's actually far stronger and far more independent than anyone out there because

12:13she is seeing and facing a very different life at home and one that we don't appreciate enough you

12:18know she's responsible for raising a whole generation of people who are going to change

12:23the world someday so that is equally as pressurizing as being a ceo or you know leading a company of

12:30thousands of people so I think that to me is is what I believe and I think that the whole concept

12:36of women empowerment really lies around respecting and you know giving women the freedom to make the

12:41choices that they want to make. No I love that thought as well and like you said a homemaker

12:46has no sick days off yeah she doesn't get a bonus really I mean it is the toughest toughest job

12:53and often a very underappreciated job and you know I kind of probably only came to realize

12:59that now when I'm in my you know late 20s and I kind of look at my mom and I feel so grateful for

13:06a lot of the sacrifices that she made you know in her younger life to kind of help me get to where

13:10I am or to you know put that time and put that energy into raising me and my brother and I think

13:16that I think to all the moms out there I think it's a very tough job and you know they sacrifice

13:21more than we think that they do for for our happiness and for our success so I think that's

13:25something that we should give them credit for. I do and I think they've I mean generally when I

13:30look at all three of you women talking it just seems like a very democratic household I mean

13:35you may have fights and all of that I mean that goes I mean you're as dysfunctional as any other

13:39family next door I think is that why you want to pay it forward like when did the seed of that

13:46philanthropy that I want to pay it forward I want to use my clout my celebrity for greater good come

13:52about? I mean I definitely don't think I'm a celebrity I think I was just fortunate to

13:57you know be where I am and to be in the family that I am and I think that there might be a reason

14:02why because of them I have the platform that I have or people kind of watch what I do and I

14:08want to use that platform for the right thing I want to use it to talk about things that are

14:12important and to kind of use the resources and the opportunities that I have been given and maximize

14:18those so that I could share them with others or I could bring them to others and not in the form

14:24of sympathy or not in the form of pity but in the form of that there are women out there who deserve

14:28the same opportunities that I have and how can I you know share the ones that I have been given or

14:34how can I maximize that for the women around me and I think that's really where the seed of wanting

14:40to you know join the development sector really came from and I think that just in general whether

14:45you come from privilege whether you don't come from privilege I think as a citizen of this country

14:50and just as human beings we have a moral responsibility to just leave society a better

14:56place and we found it so I think I'm also just playing my part in doing that. You're doing such

15:02an amazing job I mean you're really young I know you're in your 20s you haven't got it all out

15:07but at the same time you just seem like I mean you seem to wear your vulnerabilities on your sleeve

15:12which I think many people relate to it and thank you. Thank you. Such a pleasure. Is there anything

15:18you want to add? I'm not asking you the usual question of why not because I'm like we're over it.

15:25It's never even something that I considered so I don't even know how to answer that question

15:28anymore because it was never something that even crossed my mind. No but you're entertaining us.

15:36And also paying it forward it's a very rare combination so thank you. Thank you for doing

15:40that. If there's anything you want to add I'll be happy to anything you would like to. No I mean

15:44thank you so much for speaking to me and I hope that you enjoy watching the rest of the season.

15:50I do. I really love it. I think all you three women are like a hoot. Thank you. It's like a fly on the

15:56wall approach and I think the editing of the show is brilliant. I like how you all don't edit out

16:01your mistakes which I think takes a lot of courage. Yeah. Thank you. Sanitize it. Thank you for not

16:07sanitizing it. Thank you. Thank you. That's really sweet of you.

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