Strong mothers raise strong daughters. This is true for Neena Gupta and her daughter – Masaba Gupta. We admire Neena Gupta for her unconventional professional as well as personal choices.
But, it is not only Neena who has denied to bow down to societal pressure. Even her daughter, who was born out of wedlock, is a true reflection of her mother’s strength. She believes in living life on her own terms.
As we know, Neena Gupta and Cricket legend, Vivian Richards are the parents of Masaba Gupta. But, Neena Gupta never married Richards and brought up Masaba as a single mother.
It is heartbreaking to see how even after becoming one of the leading fashion designers of the country, Masaba is still perceived as a bastard child by many in our society.
Rather than admiring how Masaba has been raised to be strong and independent by her single mom Neena Gupta, many call her a bastard child.
A few years back, the abuse intensified, when the designer took to Twitter to express her opinion on the ban on the sale of crackers in Delhi.
This time Masaba Gupta took to Twitter to share a heartfelt open letter to the world. In this letter, Masaba hit back at the trolls who questioned her ‘legitimacy’ and called her a ‘bastard child’.
In the letter, Masaba wrote,
“By calling me names like ‘bastard child’ or ‘illegitimate west Indian’ it only makes my chest swell with pride. I’m the illegitimate product of two of the MOST legitimate personalities you’ll find & I’ve made the best life, both personally and professionally… out of which I’m proud of.
I have been called these names since I was 10 years old & ever since I could read the newspapers these are two words that I am immune to.
My legitimacy comes from the work I do & what my contribution to society has been. And you can try but you will not be able to raise a single finger on the either of the two.
So, please if you must…go ahead & continue calling me these names if it makes you feel glorious. But know this…I am a proud Indo-Caribbean girl who doesn’t know how to shrink & crumble in shame of something you or your society cannot handle. It’s just in my ‘illegitimate’ genes.”
— Masaba (@MasabaG) October 12, 2017
Many came forward to applaud her courage to stand for herself.
You tell ’em Masaba ! And there is no such thing as ‘illegitimacy’. If you exist you are ‘legitimate’. Nature has seen to that. ????????????
— Soni Razdan (@Soni_Razdan) October 12, 2017
You go girl! Naysayers wl find anything to demean ppl. If not this thn somthng else. They shud use this creativity to sort their own lives!
— Lakshmi Kanchaan (@lakshmikanchan) October 12, 2017
You are the daughter of the King. Be Proud girl. Lions dont care about opinions of sheeps. Keep rocking.
— Viral Patel (@viralpatel15) October 12, 2017
fantastic! More power to you
— Gargi Rawat (@GargiRawat) October 12, 2017
At IFORHER, we are in awe of this courageous soul. We believe Masaba’s powerful words are a perfect reply to those who believe in shaming and belittling others for shattering the social norms.
More power to Masaba and Neena Gupta for inspiring us to live life on our own terms!