Bold and beautiful, Sushmita Sen, is a woman of grit and determination. She went against the established social norms and decided to be a single mother. There were challenges and long court battles. She, with her spunk, emerged victorious, to be a pioneer of women’s rights. Nikita profiles the model-actor, in the weekly column, exclusively for Different Truths.
A few years ago, adoption was only for couples who could not have their own biological children. Sushmita Sen, being one of her kind, was the first and foremost of single women to apply for custody of a baby girl.
“Being a single mother is not easy. It’s very romantic, but it’s not easy. Yes, that is true (went to court for my first daughter). I was 24-years-old and I had been trying since I was 22 to become a mom by the process of adoption. In addition, they did not allow it. It took us a while and we got the custody for my baby,” she shared in one of her interviews.
She was barely 24 when she brought home her first baby girl, Rene, which means re-birth. Adopting the second girl was more difficult than the first one for her.
“But the second child was actually a bigger court fight than the first one. Because in India, the rules said that you could not adopt a daughter after a daughter. You have to adopt a son. Moreover, I wanted to adopt a daughter, so 10 years I fought and then my Alisah came. It was a long wait,” she shared.
She is unique. Her soul is far more beautiful than her body. A true lover of life, she celebrates everything that comes her way. It cannot be as romantic as she displays for a 40-year-old single mother of two girl-children. She wants to get married to the right person.
“I have been much attached, just not married. I do not know, I think we are all unique and we are somehow told by everyone else that this is the right age to get married. This is the right age to have children. This is the right age to retire. I just wanted to take life at my own clock because I believe everybody is unique. I came close to marriage twice. However, better sense prevailed I think. I will get married and I think in the due course of time, I think that too will happen,” she says about getting married.
Sushmita Sen is a living legend, fiercely powerful, brave, and unafraid. She is an inspiration for thousands of women. She is a living proof that women can be whatever they wish to be. In one of her interviews, she shared what her father said to her, “Please look at my daughter. Do you think I’ve raised her in a way that her only identity is to be someone’s wife?”
She teaches our society as a lesson that everybody is unique. We are humans and not machines. Not everything has to go with the same clock. Get married in 20’s, have kids by 30, buy a house by 35 and the list goes on. Marry at 21, do not marry at all, have kids, adopt kids, or do not have them at all. Do what you believe is right and not what society wants you to believe.
©Nikita Goel
Photos sourced by the author.
#BoldAndBeautiful #SushmitaSen #SingleMother #BeautifulSoul #RelationshipRationale #DifferentTruths