Masaba Gupta Reveals Her Masseuse Told Her to Drink Milk for a Fair Baby: 'Saawla Nahi Hona Chahiye'

Masaba Gupta, acclaimed fashion designer and actor, is set to welcome her first child soon. During an interview with Faye D’Souza, she opened up about some of the inappropriate advice she has received during her pregnancy. She recounted instances where people advised her to eat certain foods, like rasgulla and milk, in an attempt to influence her baby’s skin tone. This highlights the type of unsolicited and insensitive comments pregnant women often endure.

Opening up on it, she said, “It happened to me just yesterday that somebody who came up to me for some pre-natal something telling me, ‘You must eat a rasgulla every day’ because your kid has to turn out lighter than you. And then, 15 days before that, I was getting another pre-natal massage, because that’s what I do, and she (her masseuse) said to me, ‘Aap na doodh liya karo (you must consume milk). Saawla nahi hona chahiye, nahi honi chahiye, whatever (your child must not turn out dusky).’ It was said with so much innocence. You have no choice – what can I do? Punch my masseuse? No.”

She talked about the importance of raising strong kids to face challenges, knowing some things won’t change. While certain topics are now whispered because they’re not politically correct, they still exist. She found it absurd that calling someone “kaali” (dark-skinned) is still an insult, even among educated and wealthy people. “The number of times people think calling someone ‘kaali’ (dark) is a way of putting them down, I find that so absurd. And I’m just giving you an example of a masseuse who comes from a certain section of society. You’ll be shocked at how many educated, wealthy, well-read people also feel this way. I’m witness to it till today. It’s 2024, and it hasn’t changed,” she said.

Masaba, daughter of Neena Gupta and West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards, married actor Satyadeep Mishra last January. In April, they announced they’re expecting a child. The couple also worked together on the Netflix series Masaba Masaba, based on her life. It ran for two seasons, but a third hasn’t been confirmed yet.