Deepika urges women to love themselves first

Actress Deepika Padukone has urged women to practice self-care and to make time for themselves.

“Women have a tendency of feeling a lot of guilt. We are always trying to be perfect in playing different roles, so I feel it is important to take time for yourself and do it without guilt,” Padukone said. “Even if women go for a spa session, most women are thinking ‘Oh, I have to go pick my kids from school’ or ‘My husband must be coming home’.”

“Women are constantly worrying about someone else... But it’s okay to take time for yourself and do it without guilt,” Padukone said at an event called Finding Beauty in Imperfection, organised by Ficci Ladies Organisation.

Padukone gave a motivational talk on how she dealt with depression, and the work being done by her organisation The Live Love Laugh Foundation, which was founded in 2015 and deals with mental health issues.

What Padukone was not ready to talk about was the speculation around her November wedding to actor Ranveer Singh.

“I am certainly not answering this question... It’s an extremely insensitive question to ask at an event like this,” Padukone told a journalist who asked her about it.

However, the actress was at peace describing how she felt when she opened up about her depression.

“Sharing my experience with depression made me feel lighter. It was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, I felt transparent with no fear of being judged,” Padukone said, adding that it left her happier, more sensitive, aware, and with an understanding of how fragile life is.

Padukone is one of the highest paid actresses in India and started her career with Om Shanti Om in 2007. She says when she told the world of her battle with depression, she didn’t think of it as being “brave or revolutionary.”

“I just felt that it was important for me to share something that was very personal to me, something that had changed my life, and something that I felt had a lot of stigma when I was experiencing it,” she said.

“I remember telling myself and all the people around me during my journey of recovery, and saying that if by sharing my story, I can even save one life... The purpose is that... Having this conversation is itself a huge step in that direction of change that our country really needs to see, and we are definitely headed in the right direction. But we have a long way to go,” Padukone said.