This is the World’s Strongest Warrior: A Single Mother. Meet Shubhi Mehta

Actress and single mother Shubhi Mehta juggles work, household chores and an adopted son.

“Our ability to handle life’s challenges is a measure of our strength of character” - Les Brown. And what a true quote it is, especially in the case of Shubhi Mehta. She has faced life’s challenges like a pro, from being an Indian actress to a divorce to the adoption of a child, a decision she made on her own.

“I had to get through it. I had to. And I had to find ways of making that work for me,” she says casually.

Shubhi’s life outside of her bubble started as being an actress in Mumbai. She worked for Bollywood and starred as one of the girls in the famous Indian film Chak De India, which became a big hit and started off her career. She lived for ten years in Mumbai, which she

claimed to be a fantastic place. “Mumbai is just such a brilliant city. It was like a parent to me: it took care of me, scolded me, trained me, groomed me...” she said with a smile.

After her amazing experience in the acting industry, Shubhi retired and started working at Ola, with an adopted son and no external family help.

“I didn't have physical support of his grandparents for the simple reason that it was my choice to come to Bangalore. Had I been in Dehradun or had I been in Delhi, that choice was very easy. They were always going to be there to support me. It was my choice to come to Bangalore and to do this on my own as a single parent.” she said, remembering her earlier days.

Shubhi went through many highs and lows. The top events were hard to decipher, as she has had many of both. She claimed that the highest point in her adult life would have been Chak De if it had been 2022, but instead it was the day she adopted Ved.

“It was a decision that I made on the spot to get him home and to adopt him. And so for me, that was a very big day in my life. It was the day I decided my life was going to be very, very different from it has been. I think that day was just something completely different. It was a lot of prayers. It was a lot of hope. It was a lot of, like I said, strength. And it was a lot of magic. That day was just bizarre", she declared, with a slight air of pride.

It was also said that her lowest point was her divorce with her husband. “I think that was a definite low point emotionally, strength-wise. I don't know. I think Maria pulled me out of that. I don't think I would have been able to pull myself out of that. So yes, that was a definite low point when I separated and I came to Bangalore.", she said, remembering her past experiences.

She was able to recover slowly and gradually due to many different factors. Her best friend Maria, the community school Papagoya and other close friends were ready to hold her hand and guide her through all of her hard times. In her words, it took "community and a lot of

tears and fears and belief and hope" to get through all the hard times, all the lowest points.

And gradually, she became stronger and stronger. She could take on anything that passed her way. Work, bills, putting food on the table turned into a steady rhythm and though all her experiences dealt her a great amount of hardships, she always got back on her feet and carried on. “I didn't think I could weather a storm beautifully before this. And I have gone through ups and downs earlier as well. But the challenges that a single parent goes through, whether it's his education, his daily schedule, his friendships, my friendships, what I want to do. I think just to put everything together as an ecosystem, I didn't think I had it in me. And if I can do this, I think I can do anything now. Anything. I think it gives you a kind of confidence in you that no other experience will. As a single parent, you know that you will be able to get through everything.”

Now, Shubhi’s day starts at 5:15 a.m. when she wakes up and does exercise until 6:00 a.m. She takes a yoga class until 7:00 between which her four-year-old son Ved wakes up and plays from 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. They get ready and eat a quick breakfast at 7:15, then leave at 7:30 for school along with Shubhi’s friend, Maria’s, ten-year-old daughter, Aanya. After dropping off the children at school, Shubhi spends the majority of the day at work, then leaves at 5:00 p.m., picks up Ved from school and returns home at about 5:30, then goes through a regular routine with Ved, which includes a bath, dinner, and bedtime. Ved goes to sleep between 8:00 and 8:15 p.m., and between 8:15 and 10:00, Shubhi completes any remaining work, reads, spends some time with her dog, or plans for the day ahead. At 10:00 p.m., Shubhi goes to bed. She handles everything she needs to do in one day, with a great deal of more prioritization and confidence than a pair of parents.

“My single most important advice for single mothers is do not isolate yourself.” Shubhi says confidently. “Find a community. A single parent, I think, feels very guilty about having to do this alone and yet finds it very hard to ask for help. There's a whole martyrdom attached to this that ‘I'm going to do everything. I'm the mother. I'm the father. There is nobody else.’ And that kind of narrative just sits in your head and rotates while you put unnecessary pressures on yourself for being there and doing all these roles. It doesn't have to be. As a single parent, if you're a mother, please look for father figures. If you're a father, as a single parent, please look for mother figures. And don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. It can help you in the most bizarre ways possible... and it will always make you stronger.”

Written by Nea Mikaela Gupta

Nea wrote this article as a participant of the Media-Makers Fellowship's May'25 cohort.