Priyanka’s mom Madhu Chopra on why she dropped her medical practice

Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ mother Dr Madhu Chopra said that she took a break from her medical practice in order to be with her daughter after her she’d won the Miss India beauty pageant, and had to go Mumbai to prepare for the Miss World pageant, which proved to be life-changing decision.

She said: “ ... Our family was not too happy about it as she was very good in her studies and they didn’t want me disturbing her — she was to give her 12th board [examination], that’s a very critical time.”

Speaking on ‘The Habit Coach With Ashdin Doctor by IVM Podcasts’, Madhu said: “But she had just returned from Boston and her education in America for high school is very different from our school education in India, so she needed to take a gap year to catch up with the Indian students who were far ahead. And she wanted to pursue science. So we decided to give her a gap year and in that gap year this opportunity happened.”

Talking about Priyanka’s preparations for Miss World, she said: “She (Priyanka) became Miss India and she had moved to Bombay to prepare for the Miss World pageant. And that’s when my family put down a condition, that she will only go if one of her parents is with her all the time. So we sat down and had a discussion as we had a very big practice at that time.”

She continued: “My husband said ‘don’t worry I’ll take care of your practice we will hire someone. And for a daughter it is much better to have her mum around, where I would know half the things and what to do’.”

Madhu revealed that he was a very conservative father, a typical Punjabi father, in a caring and protective manner. “So it was decided that I would go. So I just dropped my practice overnight and went with her to Bombay. That was a life changing decision for me,” she said.