In an exclusive interaction with mid-day.com, Navya Naveli Nanda gets candid about working on the show, what keeps her grounded despite coming from a privileged background, and more.
Navya Naveli Nanda Pic/Instagram
Budding entrepreneur Navya Naveli Nanda is back with the second season of her vodcast 'What The Hell Navya' featuring her mother Shweta Bachchan and grandmother, veteran actor Jaya Bachchan. Navya, who finds herself more relaxed this time, says that she watched the entire first season to ensure the content rolled out in the second installment was not stale or redundant. In an exclusive interaction with mid-day.com, Navya gets candid about working on the show, what keeps her grounded despite coming from a privileged background, and more.
Navya started her non-profit after graduating college. She states that her journey is different from the majority of women in India because she comes from a very privileged background. She admits that things were far easier financially since there was support from her family. Hence, barriers in that aspect were far fewer. However, as a young entrepreneur, her age was a challenging factor.
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She explains, “A lot of people often doubt that if you're too young, you're incapable or inexperienced to be doing what you're doing. And that's also something that I face and still do face to some extent because the kind of work that I do is very serious. We're sharing views and opinions on some very stigmatised and taboo topics like menstrual hygiene or domestic violence. Initially in the first couple of years that would affect me a lot. But I think today it's something that I can use positively in the sense that since the majority of India's population is young, I think that there is pride in the fact that I'm able to put my voice out there as a young person in shaping how the country's future goes moving forward.”
Navya leaned on the business side instead of showbiz courtesy of her paternal side. She recalls her grandmother being an entrepreneur who started her venture and always emphasised how it's paramount for women to be financially independent and secure. “I wish that she was around today to see what I'm doing. I think she would be really happy and proud. She was somebody who inspired me to walk down this entrepreneurial route,” says Navya.
Despite being surrounded by stalwarts from the entertainment industry, Navya asserts that the achievements that come with her last name don’t belong to her since her family has put in a lot of hard work in their journey to achieve that level of fame or stardom. However, she believes that one day she might reach that stage in life.
Navya believes in doing extensive groundwork. She isn’t your textbook CEO, who sits behind a desk in an air-conditioned cabin. She’s pretty much relatable as a young entrepreneur on several levels. When asked what keeps her grounded, she says, “I don't believe that I'm a star. I don't believe that I've done anything that great to kind of have an air about anything or carry myself in a particular way. I think my journey has just begun. And the fact that you said that I'm relatable is probably the biggest compliment ever because if I'm working in a sector that does things for people, if I'm not able to relate to them, if I'm not able to connect with them, then what I'm doing is not going to be very fruitful.
“It is really important for me to constantly also push myself out of my comfort zone and walk out of the bubble that we all kind of tend to live in sometimes, meet other people, and be open to interacting with as many as I can. I'm not above the ground or in the air. I'm just kind of happy being where I am. My family is also a constant reminder that there's always more to be done. The only way to do that is to just keep your head down and continue working,” she adds.
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