You’re a stellar example of how women can do it all and don’t need to choose one path or be in a box. What was it like first starting out? What has the path been like to get where you are now?
I think it's not just me, women are truly amazing at multitasking. We have a do-it-all mentality because that's just the way our lives are wired. Whether you are a homemaker, or a lawyer or an actor or a doctor; it's just a prerequisite to being a woman, the default setting. Starting out I knew that I wanted to explore as many avenues as I could, and I was really passionate about expressing myself and that hasn't really changed, the path has kind of been the same. It’s to always try and get better at what I do and how I communicate my ideas and emotions.
You’ve spoken about the fear of financial independence being unsteady even with your privilege. If you had to argue about the importance of financial independence for women, what would you say?
I think financial independence is really important for everyone, especially for women, because financial independence is directly tied to freedom of choice and freedom to express yourself and to live the life you want to on your own terms. I do come from a very privileged background and I'm well aware of that. But I have never taken it for granted, and even though my parents do love me and are there to help, it's not something that I've leaned on. I am really happy to say that I have been financially independent, since the age of 21. I've made mistakes with my finances; I've learnt to correct those mistakes and I've learnt the value of saving. Most of all I would just hammer on again and again that financial independence and planning is extremely important.
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With your love for heavy metal and dark graphic novels, you’ve described yourself as an “oddball”. Has anyone ever called you a rebel? If yes, how do you react to that tag?
I've always been the oddball and I take that tag very seriously and as a huge compliment. I have lived in that world of heavy metal, graphic novels, the outsiders, the misfits and this is where my heart truly belongs. I've been called a rebel as well, but it didn't feel like I was rebelling, it felt natural for me to express myself that way and to align to that kind of mood or energy. It doesn't feel like I was going out of my way to be a rebel, so I don't really react to that tag. It's just who I am, and it feels natural to me.
Do you consider yourself a feminist? And if so, why do you think feminism is important?
There was a time when I would've said, 'no, I don’t call myself a feminist'. That was because I felt the tag had been usurped by different kinds of people, it was on t-shirts all the time and I was like why do we need to scream it? But as time has gone on, I understand the value of why it’s important for me to say, 'yes, I am a feminist.' It’s an important thing for me to say as a woman that these are the things I stand for. But there are very many pockets to this, I don’t align to one particular group of feminists. I don't feel the need to wear a t-shirt, but I have understood that I am a feminist, in my choices, in the way I live my life and the way I express my opinions. It’s important to say that you are a feminist but it’s even more important to understand what kind of woman or person you are individually.
Is being a public figure extra hard on your mental health?
Everyone currently has a lot of challenges regarding mental health because of the environment and the stressors. We have so many stressors in our lives right now, be it technology, social media, what we went through with the pandemic. Being a public figure, you have more scrutinising eyes on you. But what I have felt, from my experience, is that I'm just addressing it head on and I'm quite transparent about who I am and my life to the best of my abilities. I learnt the trick of knowing what is important for me to absorb and assimilate into myself and what is chatter that I don't need.
You took a sabbatical to realign yourself personally and professionally in the age of hustle culture. How did you decide to take a break and how did it help you?
Now of course everyone's like “it’s genius”, “she reinvented herself”, but when I decided to take a break people thought that I had completely lost the plot and that I was not valuing time. Women seem to come with some sort of invisible expiration date on them. But none of this mattered to me because I knew that realigning myself and healing myself was the most important thing. That's when I learnt that when you give up on FOMO (fear of missing out) and learn to not miss out on yourself first, tune into yourself, that realigning gave me a sense of confidence and purpose on a daily basis that was so important. I know it's difficult and complicated, but I would highly recommend to people to take a step back once in a while to realign. It really helped me.
You’re a promoter of therapy and positive self-talk. How do you take care of your own mental health?
I definitely promote generally being aware of the importance of talking about mental health. I am someone who has greatly benefitted from positive talk therapy. I've had a therapist and that has helped me a lot. I didn't realise it for a long time, but I have suffered from Generalised Anxiety Disorder and that's something I have explored and addressed in therapy where we worked on specific toolkits. A toolkit where I can pull these things out to deal with my anxiety because it used to be super debilitating and while it's not something you get over; it is something you learn to work with and around it. Different people have different triggers and different journeys, but I do know that talking about it with a therapist is really powerful. It helps you have a neutral and objective perspective by a trained professional into aligning your thoughts in a way that makes sense to you, it is a journey to figure out in your own time.
There’s a long list of beauty standards for women. What have you learnt to not give an F about?
Yes, there is a long list of beauty standards and it’s unrealistic to say, “don't listen to that” or “don’t care at all”. What you can do is, what you can give an F about is, acknowledge that these things exist. We all have insecurities, we all have complexes, but what are the things above that that you truly care about? When you start focusing on things that matter to you then the chatter, the monkey brain and the monkey comments just disappear. You have to give an F about the things that define who you are. The more you radiate yourself through your skin, through your personality, through your words, what you give an F about becomes what you stand for.
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You have recently launched a skincare line in collaboration with Pulp. What does this collaboration Pulp X Shruti stand for?
Pulp X Shruti represents who I am - what I love and what I believe in. Not giving an F about what anyone thinks about you or your skin. With this skincare line we want to set new beauty standards - NONE.
The Pulp X Shruti range is infused with Vitamin F, with the tagline “What do you give an F about.”
What are some things you give an F about?
I give an F about mental health. I give an F about sisterhood, about women supporting each other and standing up for each other. I give an F about talking and communicating with each other, trying to understand the people you disagree with; I really give an F about that.
I give an F about other people's skin, which is why Pulp and I joined hands to make the Pulp x Shruti skincare line that we are so very proud of; with ingredients and formulas that we love and that we stand by, comprising of things that work for us. I really give an F about this line because I have put my heart and soul into the way it looks and feels. The team at Pulp has been incredible and we've come up with something that we hope people will give a huge F about.
When are you most confident in your own skin?
I am most confident in my own skin when I can express myself. Be it through cinema, through music, through dance, through poetry, I really feel comfortable then. I also realised through the pandemic, because I spent basically all of the pandemic completely by myself in lockdown, that I am very comfortable in my own skin, with myself and my own company and I felt really good about that.
What does being a Badass mean to you?
Being a Badass means truly coming up with your own definition of it. We all have different permutations, combinations and variables that apply to our life. Don't take someone else's manifesto to be badass. Find your own list of things that make you badass and keep doing that everyday.
Name three Badass women in your life?
Number one would be my mum and then my sister, the two women I knew most growing up. The third spot is filled by about thirty women! I can't name just one. There are my godmothers, the aunties I grew up with, my friend's parents who made a difference in my life, my teachers, my best friends, I have the most amazing group of girlfriends. The women I meet through work who are hustling, professional, amazing driven women who want to achieve something. Amazing mothers and homemakers, who are so Badass. The way they can keep a family together and instill hope and dreams into a new generation, I think it's so magical. My third place is filled with so many women.
Your go-to formula when you’re having a rough day or experiencing self-doubt is…
My go to formula when I'm having a rough day and experiencing any kind of self-doubt is to say what I'm feeling. Without hurting people to the best of my abilities to say, this is what I am feeling. “It doesn't feel great” or “I feel great”. I just say it out, it seems to work like a charm and then I just blast music to make me feel better. Sometimes when other people are troubling me, I just blast the heaviest of metal in the highest volume because it makes me really calm and it pushes some uncool people away who don't like metal so it's fine.
The best piece of advice you ever received...
The best piece of advice I have received is from my friend Anusha's mom, Lakshmi Aunty, who has been a huge and wonderful influence in my life. She said something that I didn't really understand when I was young. She said to “have expectations for yourself but don't have too many expectations from other people and you won't be so disappointed.” And I said, “Oh my god what does that mean?” But as time has gone on, I truly expect things from myself, and I fulfil my own goals and when it comes to other people, I've learnt to take them one day at a time. When they do something amazing, I'm filled with gratitude, when they disappoint, I'm not that disappointed because I didn't expect much. So that seemed to be amazing advice to me.
On a professional front, it's to just to show up, with a good attitude and be very clear on your communication. My parents say, "show up, work hard, go home, forget about it, start again the next day". Just showing up with a good mindset has really helped me.
A book/podcast or show you’re obsessed with … (we’d love to know all)
I love all the books by Neil Gaiman. I really love this book my father gave me called "Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah". I was very young when he gave it to me, and it seemed to have a positive impact on me. I also love “Matilda” by Roald Dahl which my mum gave me, which was life changing. My favourite podcast is anything to do with mental health and psychology, like psychological analysis. I love history, so I listen to historical podcasts about how things were, World War II stuff. I'm quite a geek so I listen to a whole bunch of podcasts and of course, conspiracy theories, aliens and unexplained events. Those are my favourite kind of podcasts.
You’re a stellar example of how women can do it all and don’t need to choose one path or be in a box. What was it like first starting out? What has the path been like to get where you are now?
I think it's not just me, women are truly amazing at multitasking. We have a do-it-all mentality because that's just the way our lives are wired. Whether you are a homemaker, or a lawyer or an actor or a doctor; it's just a prerequisite to being a woman, the default setting. Starting out I knew that I wanted to explore as many avenues as I could, and I was really passionate about expressing myself and that hasn't really changed, the path has kind of been the same. It’s to always try and get better at what I do and how I communicate my ideas and emotions.
You’ve spoken about the fear of financial independence being unsteady even with your privilege. If you had to argue about the importance of financial independence for women, what would you say?
I think financial independence is really important for everyone, especially for women, because financial independence is directly tied to freedom of choice and freedom to express yourself and to live the life you want to on your own terms. I do come from a very privileged background and I'm well aware of that. But I have never taken it for granted, and even though my parents do love me and are there to help, it's not something that I've leaned on. I am really happy to say that I have been financially independent, since the age of 21. I've made mistakes with my finances; I've learnt to correct those mistakes and I've learnt the value of saving. Most of all I would just hammer on again and again that financial independence and planning is extremely important.
With your love for heavy metal and dark graphic novels, you’ve described yourself as an “oddball”. Has anyone ever called you a rebel? If yes, how do you react to that tag?
I've always been the oddball and I take that tag very seriously and as a huge compliment. I have lived in that world of heavy metal, graphic novels, the outsiders, the misfits and this is where my heart truly belongs. I've been called a rebel as well, but it didn't feel like I was rebelling, it felt natural for me to express myself that way and to align to that kind of mood or energy. It doesn't feel like I was going out of my way to be a rebel, so I don't really react to that tag. It's just who I am, and it feels natural to me.
Do you consider yourself a feminist? And if so, why do you think feminism is important?
There was a time when I would've said, 'no, I don’t call myself a feminist'. That was because I felt the tag had been usurped by different kinds of people, it was on t-shirts all the time and I was like why do we need to scream it? But as time has gone on, I understand the value of why it’s important for me to say, 'yes, I am a feminist.' It’s an important thing for me to say as a woman that these are the things I stand for. But there are very many pockets to this, I don’t align to one particular group of feminists. I don't feel the need to wear a t-shirt, but I have understood that I am a feminist, in my choices, in the way I live my life and the way I express my opinions. It’s important to say that you are a feminist but it’s even more important to understand what kind of woman or person you are individually.
Is being a public figure extra hard on your mental health?
Everyone currently has a lot of challenges regarding mental health because of the environment and the stressors. We have so many stressors in our lives right now, be it technology, social media, what we went through with the pandemic. Being a public figure, you have more scrutinising eyes on you. But what I have felt, from my experience, is that I'm just addressing it head on and I'm quite transparent about who I am and my life to the best of my abilities. I learnt the trick of knowing what is important for me to absorb and assimilate into myself and what is chatter that I don't need.
You took a sabbatical to realign yourself personally and professionally in the age of hustle culture. How did you decide to take a break and how did it help you?
Now of course everyone's like “it’s genius”, “she reinvented herself”, but when I decided to take a break people thought that I had completely lost the plot and that I was not valuing time. Women seem to come with some sort of invisible expiration date on them. But none of this mattered to me because I knew that realigning myself and healing myself was the most important thing. That's when I learnt that when you give up on FOMO (fear of missing out) and learn to not miss out on yourself first, tune into yourself, that realigning gave me a sense of confidence and purpose on a daily basis that was so important. I know it's difficult and complicated, but I would highly recommend to people to take a step back once in a while to realign. It really helped me.
You’re a promoter of therapy and positive self-talk. How do you take care of your own mental health?
I definitely promote generally being aware of the importance of talking about mental health. I am someone who has greatly benefitted from positive talk therapy. I've had a therapist and that has helped me a lot. I didn't realise it for a long time, but I have suffered from Generalised Anxiety Disorder and that's something I have explored and addressed in therapy where we worked on specific toolkits. A toolkit where I can pull these things out to deal with my anxiety because it used to be super debilitating and while it's not something you get over; it is something you learn to work with and around it. Different people have different triggers and different journeys, but I do know that talking about it with a therapist is really powerful. It helps you have a neutral and objective perspective by a trained professional into aligning your thoughts in a way that makes sense to you, it is a journey to figure out in your own time.
There’s a long list of beauty standards for women. What have you learnt to not give an F about?
Yes, there is a long list of beauty standards and it’s unrealistic to say, “don't listen to that” or “don’t care at all”. What you can do is, what you can give an F about is, acknowledge that these things exist. We all have insecurities, we all have complexes, but what are the things above that that you truly care about? When you start focusing on things that matter to you then the chatter, the monkey brain and the monkey comments just disappear. You have to give an F about the things that define who you are. The more you radiate yourself through your skin, through your personality, through your words, what you give an F about becomes what you stand for.
You have recently launched a skincare line in collaboration with Pulp. What does this collaboration Pulp X Shruti stand for?
Pulp X Shruti represents who I am - what I love and what I believe in. Not giving an F about what anyone thinks about you or your skin. With this skincare line we want to set new beauty standards - NONE.
The Pulp X Shruti range is infused with Vitamin F, with the tagline “What do you give an F about.”
What are some things you give an F about?
I give an F about mental health. I give an F about sisterhood, about women supporting each other and standing up for each other. I give an F about talking and communicating with each other, trying to understand the people you disagree with; I really give an F about that.
I give an F about other people's skin, which is why Pulp and I joined hands to make the Pulp x Shruti skincare line that we are so very proud of; with ingredients and formulas that we love and that we stand by, comprising of things that work for us. I really give an F about this line because I have put my heart and soul into the way it looks and feels. The team at Pulp has been incredible and we've come up with something that we hope people will give a huge F about.
When are you most confident in your own skin?
I am most confident in my own skin when I can express myself. Be it through cinema, through music, through dance, through poetry, I really feel comfortable then. I also realised through the pandemic, because I spent basically all of the pandemic completely by myself in lockdown, that I am very comfortable in my own skin, with myself and my own company and I felt really good about that.
What does being a Badass mean to you?
Being a Badass means truly coming up with your own definition of it. We all have different permutations, combinations and variables that apply to our life. Don't take someone else's manifesto to be badass. Find your own list of things that make you badass and keep doing that everyday.
Name three Badass women in your life?
Number one would be my mum and then my sister, the two women I knew most growing up. The third spot is filled by about thirty women! I can't name just one. There are my godmothers, the aunties I grew up with, my friend's parents who made a difference in my life, my teachers, my best friends, I have the most amazing group of girlfriends. The women I meet through work who are hustling, professional, amazing driven women who want to achieve something. Amazing mothers and homemakers, who are so Badass. The way they can keep a family together and instill hope and dreams into a new generation, I think it's so magical. My third place is filled with so many women.
Your go-to formula when you’re having a rough day or experiencing self-doubt is…
My go to formula when I'm having a rough day and experiencing any kind of self-doubt is to say what I'm feeling. Without hurting people to the best of my abilities to say, this is what I am feeling. “It doesn't feel great” or “I feel great”. I just say it out, it seems to work like a charm and then I just blast music to make me feel better. Sometimes when other people are troubling me, I just blast the heaviest of metal in the highest volume because it makes me really calm and it pushes some uncool people away who don't like metal so it's fine.
The best piece of advice you ever received...
The best piece of advice I have received is from my friend Anusha's mom, Lakshmi Aunty, who has been a huge and wonderful influence in my life. She said something that I didn't really understand when I was young. She said to “have expectations for yourself but don't have too many expectations from other people and you won't be so disappointed.” And I said, “Oh my god what does that mean?” But as time has gone on, I truly expect things from myself, and I fulfil my own goals and when it comes to other people, I've learnt to take them one day at a time. When they do something amazing, I'm filled with gratitude, when they disappoint, I'm not that disappointed because I didn't expect much. So that seemed to be amazing advice to me.
On a professional front, it's to just to show up, with a good attitude and be very clear on your communication. My parents say, "show up, work hard, go home, forget about it, start again the next day". Just showing up with a good mindset has really helped me.
A book/podcast or show you’re obsessed with … (we’d love to know all)
I love all the books by Neil Gaiman. I really love this book my father gave me called "Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah". I was very young when he gave it to me, and it seemed to have a positive impact on me. I also love “Matilda” by Roald Dahl which my mum gave me, which was life changing. My favourite podcast is anything to do with mental health and psychology, like psychological analysis. I love history, so I listen to historical podcasts about how things were, World War II stuff. I'm quite a geek so I listen to a whole bunch of podcasts and of course, conspiracy theories, aliens and unexplained events. Those are my favourite kind of podcasts.
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