Exclusive -Charu Asopa on not getting a house as she is a single mom: I was denied a house on rent because “mere ghar par koi mard nahi hai”

Charu Asopa, who returned to television with Kaisa Hai Yeh Rishta Anjana, is busy promoting her new web show Johri. During an exclusive interview with ETimes TV, the actress shared that this was the show which marked her return to work after a ‘long maternity break’. During the interview, the actress opened up about her struggles as a single mom, not getting a house as a single mother and more.

The show Johri will always be special to my heart because I worked on a project after a long time. My daughter Ziana was very young and I would shoot with her for this show. I will always remember and cherish it. The unit was very supportive and I would get my daughter to the sets. I would finish my scene and go back to my daughter in the makeup room. I remember Ziana was very young at that time and I would feed her so I could not leave her at home. So she would accompany me on sets. I am thankful to the team and the producers of the show that they created such a cozy environment on the sets for me and my baby.

A lot of new moms think about how will they resume work after pregnancy but if you have a friendly and co-operative production house, things can be managed very well. When you get support at the workplace things become really easy and any mother can have a balance.

No, I haven’t got a new house until now, I’m still hunting for it. I don’t have time in hand. I have to move out within a few days from my current house as I’ve already given a notice. I was planning to shift close to my sets because travelling becomes really difficult. It takes around 2 to 2.5 hours to reach home from sets. I can’t take the risk of working so far because in case of an emergency I will not be able to reach home on time. That’s why I wanted to stay close to the sets so that I can be around my daughter or at least close to her.

I had a building in mind where I was trying to get a house, because they had a play-school inside the society so my daughter would have been inside the complex only. For me things and life could have become easy. I’m doing a daily soap and you know the hectic life we live. Right now only I know how I’m managing things. But I couldn’t find a house there.

When I started to look for a home I was asked who all will be staying and I told them my daughter, two maids and I will be staying in the house. They asked me but you told us it is a family and I was like yes we are a family. So, for them a mother and daughter is not a complete family. I tried to convince them by saying that my mother also keeps coming over but they clearly told me “lekin aapke ghar main koi mard toh nahi hai Na”.

We proudly say that we are in the 21st century and a female can achieve anything but I don’t think it is true especially the kind of experiences I’ve gone through. People speak about this in gatherings, in group discussion but these same people are the society members or secretary, they go back on their words.

I especially requested my production house to give me two hours from the day to go and finish the society meeting. Everyone knows while shooting for a daily soap there’s always a telecast issue, I still went and met the people but I came back disappointed. I was so upset and dejected. How I shot for my scenes only I know. I was heartbroken and cried on the sets.

I have a few requirements when I am trying to find a house for my daughter. I want to live in a house in a society which has a play area. I want a safe environment for her. She should feel safe even when I am shooting for my show somewhere. It should be easy for her. Had I wanted a house of my own I could have shared a house with someone or shifted to a 1 BHK. But I have to stay with my daughter and we should have a comfortable environment. That’s the reason I am still struggling to find a house.