Entertainment

Masaba Gupta Recalls Facing Racism In School, Being Called ‘Ba**ard’ Child

By
OB Bureau

Mumbai: Celebrity designer and now an actor, Masaba Gupta has opened up on the double trauma of facing racism due to the colour of her skin and her parents’ unconventional relationship in her growing up years. Veteran actor Neena Gupta and West Indian cricketing legend Vivian Richards are her parents but they never got married, Hindustan Times (HT) reported.

In an interview to journalist Barkha Dutt on her Mojo Story, Masaba said, “It was reactions of friends and acquaintances, people who you thought had your back that affected me. A friend of mine brought up the colour of my skin every time I asked her about what to wear, what subject to study or what sport I should play. I thought it was bizarre. However, more than the colour of my skin, it was about the relationship of my parents. I remember being called a b*stard child a lot. Lots of boys in my school will ask ‘is she the ba**ard?’ I didn’t understand what it meant and I went and asked my mother when I was young and she explained it to me by the book. She said this is what it means and be prepared to get more of this.”

“I played professional tennis in school and I was permitted to come late to the class as I was playing for the state. The boys in the class will open my bag, take out my underwear and toss it around. They would make fun of my shorts because I was a bigger girl. They would be like ‘is it all black inside from the colour of her skin’. You think you outgrow it but you don’t,” she was quoted as saying.

 

This is what Masaba wrote on her post after Kamala Harris was chosen as the US Vice President-elect, “You know when i was little & started to understand more about my ethnicity…the fact that I was a mixed child..half Caribbean & half Indian,I thought I was the only one of my kind.I used to think wow,masaba there possibly can’t be more like you out there. And then my world opened up,I travelled and on a trip to Antigua I discovered so many more of my kind. It was like looking into a mirror I could never find. And I felt a little less alone in my constant fight to understand racism-it was such a big word. In my fight to understand why I was different. I mean,it’s just so much easier to be like everyone else so you mix with the crowd in Mumbai,isn’t it ? But today I see @kamalaharris & I know different is so good. It’s so good that if you keep your chin up & work hard enough to break out of the color,skin,race box they put you in…you might just make history.”

“Madame Vice President, the first black woman / the first person of south Asian descent & more importantly just the first woman to be VP elect- I salute you & I plan to go back to my drawing board tonight & sketch bigger, brighter dreams for myself and the women who will come after me…mixed girls, just like us.”

 

Also Read: Kangana Ranaut, Sister To Appear Before Mumbai Cops On Jan 8: HC

OB Bureau

Recent Posts

CM Mohan Majhi Attends ‘Odisha State Day’ Celebrations At IITF In Delhi

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi attended the ‘Odisha State Day Celebrations’ at the 43rd…

November 22, 2024

Vishal Aditya Singh Calls Shweta Tiwari ‘Mom’, Breaks Silence On Fake Wedding Pictures

Mumbai: Recently, some morphed pictures of actress Shweta Tiwari and her good friend Vishal Aditya…

November 22, 2024

2 Tribal Men Get Life Imprisonment For Gangraping Minor Girl In Odisha

Phulbani: Two tribal men were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Odisha's…

November 22, 2024

Atishi Or Kejriwal, Who Is The Better CM? Delhi’s Lt Gov Takes His Pick

New Delhi: It’s been just over two months since Atishi took oath as Delhi’s chief…

November 22, 2024

Dr Manita Tamang Of AIIMS Bhubaneswar Receives UC Chakroborty Award

Bhubaneswar: In a moment of pride for AIIMS Bhubaneswar, Dr Manita Tamang, a final-year Senior…

November 22, 2024

Amid Fresh Violence, 10,000 Additional Soldiers To Be Sent To Manipur

Imphal: In view of the surge in violence in troubled Manipur, the Central government will send…

November 22, 2024

Odisha Parba Kicks Off In Delhi In Presence Of President Murmu, Dharmendra Pradhan & CM Mohan Majhi

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The 7th edition of Odisha Parba got off to a colourful start in…

November 22, 2024

Nagarjuna Played Cupid In Naga Chaitanya, Sobhita Dhulipala’s Love Story; Know How

Mumbai: Celebrity couple Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala are set to walk down the aisle…

November 22, 2024