Poorna Jagannathan
Poorna Jagannathan

Whether it’s Deepika Padukone talking about battling depression or Anushka Sharma giving it back to the ones who created a lot of hype around her lip job – it’s not easy. It never is. For any celebrity to come forward and talk about the issues that bother them, is no cakewalk. So naturally, I have developed a new found respect for Poorna Jagannathan after watching this video. She speaks about dealing with her alcoholic father, being sexually abused at 9 by a neighbour and a horrifying bus ride in Delhi.

Excerpts from the video:

My childhood was bit of a roller-coaster, it was a very privileged childhood, very fairytale childhood, many aspects especially on paper. My father suffered from alcoholism. We were told to keep it under the wraps as much as possible. My first encounter with sexual violence was probably when I was 9. There was a neighbour and family friend who got his hands on me. He obviously told me not to tell anyone. I have encountered so many incidents as a child and as a young adult. They were violent but I wouldn’t speak about it. There was a code that you wouldn’t talk about it.

Kudos to Poorna for speaking up and breaking the cycle of violence.