Shweta Bachchan Nanda writes a weekly column for DNA, where she shares a lot of anecdotes about her family. Usually, her articles are on a lighter note, but her latest one touched our hearts. She wrote about her daughter, Navya Naveli turning 18 and the trappings that come along with it. While Shweta was in party planning mode for her daughter’s big 18, Navya was not okay. Here’s an excerpt from her column about the bullying Navya was facing in school.
A flurry of texts and screenshots later, I am updated… along with falling victim to a lot of teenage “mean girling” she has been body-shamed (when you are ridiculed or bullied about your body, either too fat or in her case, for being too skinny). My immediate reaction was one of utter rage! You bring your kids up with such love and care, not a day goes by when you don’t tell them or remind them in different ways just how wonderful they are…. And then, someone callously brings it all crashing down and their only authority is that they are your child’s peer and their word will, for a while, mean more to them than mamma from heaven. It is the worst kind of bullying, simply because it leaves the most lasting impact!!
Shweta then spoke about her own teenage years, how at 12 she was a human equivalent of a bottlebrush and how when a classmate told her to ‘stop flapping like a big bird’, the name Big Bird stuck with her throughout her school years. It was hearwarming to read a usually reticent Shweta write so openly about her and her daughter’s painful memories. You can read the entire article here.