We can be mothers and have careers. We can finish our education with children in tow. Is it a challenge? Yep. But women are made for challenges. We are strong enough to handle the challenges presented to us. It's what we were made to do.
You have to take control of your own life, your own destiny, and your own careers. You can't leave everything up to someone else, 'cause then you can look at them and blame them.
The only people who have control over their careers are the ones you see on the covers of magazines. Everyone else is just plodding along making a living. The key is not to live over your means and overdo it.
Many women try to advance in their careers by having all the answers; by being the go-to person for information and advice; or by building expertise in a particular field. However, as they progress, gain broader responsibilities, and grow into leadership roles, they realize that their span of control is too vast to be able to know every answer.
If I hadn't left South Africa, I felt I was at risk of being pigeonholed. I looked around and saw actors who, 10 to 15 years into their careers, were still playing stereotypical Afrikaans characters, stereotyped Indian characters. That was not something that I wanted for myself.
Every person goes through a bad phase. Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan, too, had a rough phase in their careers. In my case, it was unfortunate that my personal problems came up at a time when I took a break to rejuvenate myself.
The bosses can't read your mind, so I think women should tell them what they want out of their careers. And so I think that if you're just a good person, you work hard, you say 'yes,' and you are driven, you will eventually work your way to the top. At least, that's how it's been for me.
Young people encounter great challenges at the beginning of their careers.
My advice to Robin is listen to your heart, do what you feel. Follow your heart in love and marriage as you would in careers, and you'll be fine. Robin has a great heart. He's a fabulous father.
When I went to acting school, the kids that got the best grades were the kids that could cry on cue. But it didn't really translate into careers for any of them, because the external is the easy part.
