Suparna Moitra – Women in Power series
AO: Suparna – What does your name mean? You think your personality resonated with your name?
SM:Suparna is another name for Parvati, the Hindu goddess of fertility, love, beauty, harmony, and devotion; as well as of divine strength and power. It also means a beautiful leaf.
I do resonate with the meaning of my name at many levels. For me, something is beautiful only if it stands strong and exists in harmony with the energy around it. And I do belief I can follow the wind, just like a leaf does. That journey of life prodding me along, like the wind carrying a leaf, from one milestone to the other, has been a beautiful one.
And am I beautiful? You tell me!
AO:What has been the most challenging role you’ve played on stage so far, and why?
SM: They have each been extremely fulfilling but the one that stayed with me was Zangoora. It takes a different kind of discipline and commitment to play the same role, on the same stage day after day. A performance like that can go from exhilarating to jaded very quickly. So to constantly make your performance shine, within the same defined parameters, made me grow as an actor immensely. I am grateful for the opportunity.
AO:How do you perceive religion and spirituality?
SM: I believe religion, was originally about spirituality. The original manuscripts and vedas all spoke about similar values and principles. The only thing that differentiated one from the other were the rituals, which also I believe, was largely based on the demographics of the time they were written in.
How and when, we chose religion to differentiate one human from another and make it classist, elitist and racist is an answer I struggle to find.
AO: We all find an expression while watching a sunset, what’s yours?
SM: Hahaha! Well, I’m not very poetic – I’m a more visual person. So pictures of sunsets and me and my loved ones walking towards it, is what I always capture. If I had to frame them all, a better part of the house will be full of them!
AO: Your favorite quote?
SM: Halki phulki si hai zindagi..
Bojh toh inn khwahisho kahai..
It’s by Piyush Mishra and if anything, this year has brought the meaning of this one home in more ways than one.
AO: Social issues – the one that gets your gut?
SM: Oh God there are so many!
But on top of the list is:
Why are we woman still screaming and fighting for equal opportunity and just for our right to live with dignity? Till when are we supposed to live in fear? It’s almost ironic that a feminist like me also has to monitor where and how my girls travel and move around.
It used to make me very angry but now, whenever women are objectified and used, it just breaks my heart. This fight will be a long one. Things have changed but a lot more has to. And I promise I will be the first in line whenever a woman needs me.
This one is a ‘ride or die’ for me.
AO: Your favorite travel memory
SM: After Rahul and I got married we went to this stunning island called Malta with close family and 30 of our closest friends. Of course the place is what travel dreams are made of but that we shared it with the ones we love the most made it even more special. There was this one night where we all walked down the Silent City of Mdina, dressed in our Indian finery, into this larger than life cathedral, where there was a short, but ever so powerful opera performance. The memory of that voice in a city that was so quiet will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
AO: Being a mom, is it for everyone?
SM: It has been extremely fulfilling for me and I can’t imagine my life without Ria and Meher. My love for them is what sailed me through some of the most turbulent times of my life. See, when you have kids, giving up is not a choice. Any mom will tell you that.
Having said that, no I don’t think marriage and kids is for everyone. And we all needs to stop jumping like a goat on steroids when a woman doesn’t choose marriage or decides not to have kids. Everyone has their own calling; everyone is fighting their own battles. If you can’t support their choices, atleast don’t criticize them.
AO: What, in your life, has brought you or given you the greatest satisfaction or fulfilment?
SM: The beautiful flow with which love, work, kids, travel, friends, family moves in my life; so much so that even equations that were bitter in the past are now so effortless, possibilities that didn’t seem like mine, unfold every day.
The way my life is today, that is what completes.
I couldn’t have asked for more.