Rupali Ganguly shared this image. (courtesy: rupaliganguly)
Rupali Ganguly, best known for her role in the hit TV show Anupamaa recently shared her thoughts on the challenges of being a working mother in the entertainment industry. For the unversed, the actress is mother to a six-and-a-half-year-old son Rudraansh. In an interview with Pinkvilla, Rupali Ganguly discussed the struggles of balancing her professional commitments with her role as a mother. She expressed her concerns about not being able to spend quality time with her six-and-a-half-year-old son due to the gruelling work hours and the infamous traffic of Mumbai. She further shared that the actors often find themselves spending long hours on set to meet tight deadlines owing to the demanding schedule of daily telecasts.
"I leave my six-and-a-half-year-old at home and television is like twelve hours a day. And in Bombay, there's a lot of traffic. So leaving your son at home and him not having a mother who has stuck with you always," Rupali shared, her voice tinged with emotion. She added, "And suddenly, the child goes 'Bapu, I want this, I want that'. At times, it gets like Arey, yeh mujhe puchta hi nahi hai (He doesn't need me anymore). It feels like I don't exist in his (my son's) life."
The actress went on to describe the constant battle with guilt that plagues her as a working mother. Despite the occasional breaks granted by the considerate production house for important occasions like Halloween, Christmas, and Diwali, Rupali Ganguly said that the underlying guilt of not being present for her son daily persists. "The production house tries to accommodate our personal lives, allowing us to celebrate significant events with our families. But the guilt of not being there for my son every day weighs heavily on me. It's a feeling that never truly goes away," she shared.
"So, the whole guilt is there all the time and then you try to overcompensate. That guilt just doesn't go away, no matter where you go, what you do; the guilt of leaving your child and not being there for him, always stays," Rupali Ganguly concluded.