Kamal Ghorui
Neena Gupta was in a relationship with West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards and they have a daughter, Masaba Gupta. People often call Neena brave for her choice to become a single mother, without getting married. In a recent interview, the actress has opened up on relationship with Vivian and why they never got married. When asked whether the two were truly in love, Neena responded candidly in an interview with Shubhankar Mishra, “Go ask him. Everyone is afraid to ask him. Why do all of you ask only me? I think we were in love. Although we were together for only a short while, the time we spent together was wonderful.”Reflecting on why marriage was never on the cards, Neena explained that practical realities stood in the way. “Woh already shadi shuda the, main shadi kaise karti. Also, it wasn’t practical. Either I would have had to leave my job and go to the West Indies, or he would have had to give up his career and come to India; neither of which was possible,” she said. When asked if he was okay with Neena giving birth to their daughter because he was married, the actress said he was okay with it. Looking back at that phase of her life, she admitted that emotions guided her decisions. “But at that time, I was blind in love. In such a scenario, who listens to others? Who stops to reflect on their decisions? Who listens to their parents? It was my decision to have a child. Then I asked him (Vivian) if he was okay with me giving birth to his child, and he said yes,” Neena Gupta recalled. She also said that Vivian Richards never hesitated to publicly acknowledge their daughter, Masaba Gupta, as his own. At the same time, Neena admitted that single parenthood comes with its own challenges, noting that raising a child alone is far from easy and may not always be ideal for the child. Neena Gupta welcomed Masaba in November 1989. In another recent interview, Neena urged women to not see her and opt for pregnancy without marriage because it’s difficult road. She said in an interview with Humans Of Bombay, “Young girls ko main yeh kahungi, agar aap mere jaise bina shadi se bacha paida karna chaahte ho, bohot mushkil hai, mat karna. Don’t do it because someone has done it. (My advice to all the young girls is that do not even think of having a baby without getting married, just because I did. It’s very difficult, don’t do it).”
