Rakul Preet Singh’s Parents Encouraged Her To Wear A Bikini When She Participated In Miss India. It Means A Lot To Have Supportive Parents.

Rakul Preet Singh’s Parents Encouraged Her To Wear A Bikini When She Participated In Miss India. It Means A Lot To Have Supportive Parents.

Today, we are what we are because of our parents and the parenting method they decided to opt for. We don’t even realise how an absentee father can affect our adult relationships. Similarly, having supportive parents can make you feel more fulfilled and stable as a person. You become someone who fearlessly leaps into the world, knowing that you have a safety net to fall back on. When you’re afraid to fly and your parents encourage you, you become a confident person, slowly overcoming your inhibitions. But most importantly, it’s the parents who raise you in an open-minded world amidst a larger orthodox society.

While most Indian parents don’t fit the description of being open-minded and supporting your dreams (unless you want to become a doc or an engineer), actress Rakul Preet Singh seems to be blessed with such rare support.

Rakul Preet was part of Miss India 2011 pageant and as we all know participants have to wear a bikini in one of the rounds. She was quite hesitant but it was her parents who encouraged her to go ahead. She told Pinkvilla, “I said I’m not prepared for that. But she was confident. She said, ‘You’ll prepare for it, isme kya hai?’” I can actually imagine this conversation but with roles reversed and my mom bringing the roof down after I tell her “isme kya hai?”

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In fact, her parents went bikini shopping for her and her dad actually had some suggestions while at it. “You won’t believe but I must add this because so many kids don’t get their parents’ support. But my mom and my dad were more comfortable than I was with the idea of wearing a bikini. In fact, when we were going to shop for the bikinis, my dad kept telling us to buy vibrant coloured bikinis and not the dull ones,” she said. Wow, really, can they adopt me? Firstly, the chances of my parents going bikini shopping for me are zero, nada, naught! Secondly, if they do, my dad will be utterly awkward and embarrassed. And I am pretty sure they will get glances from judgemental aunties in the store who will call my parents uncultured.

Well, it’s not just about being able to wear a bikini, but how parents should raise their daughters. When they ask their daughters to cover up, they are giving a free pass for men to sexualise our bodies. They are feeding a culture that believes women in a short dress or a bikini are of bad character and asking for it. They are telling their daughters that you have to sacrifice your dreams and not reach your full potential because you’re a woman. I know parents mean well and they love us. But as Taapsee said in Thappad, she grew up believing that she has to be the one sacrificing her goals and taking on domestic duties, because that’s what her mom taught her.

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We need a world where women can breathe freely and one where we can thrive. And that world begins at home. Thankfully, there are several parents who have opened up their minds and have created enough support for their children, especially daughters. And I hope that number grows!

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Akanksha Narang

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