She is unabashed and outspoken and truth be told, after this interview, one of my inspirations too. A celebrity hairstylist and owner of Mad O Wat, a beauty salon, Sapna Bhavnani has never shied away from speaking out her mind. She caused an uproar as a participant in Bigg Boss and even stood up to Salman Khan. Defying the rules made by the society and redefining the definition of an Indian woman, she has always been very clear about her life and who she is as a person.
This Republic Day, we are celebrating women who are unapologetic for who they are and do not blindly follow the rules and definitions coined by the society. Therein Sapna fits the bill perfectly as does the mantra she lives by, a quote by Bulleh Shah – “Jo na jaane haq ki taaqat, rab na deve usko himmat”. “Simply translated it means, if you don’t know the power of your own rights, the lord is not going to give you anything,” she said. “We are always looking up to god, asking for his help, but if we don’t know the power of what we are capable of, then we will not achieve anything ever.”
Her growing years weren’t exactly a cakewalk. She recounts her teenage days when the society called her names just because of the way she chose to be. “. I have always had short hair, but at age of 13, I had cut it really short and almost looked bald from afar. This is Bandra in mid-80s that I am talking about. I used to wear the shortest of skirts and ride bikes along with having a lot of guy friends. That was the time when society termed me as a ‘R**nd’ or a whore.”
This phase actually turned out to be a life defining moment for this 44-year old stylist. “Initially, it affected me for a while, then I realised that they were calling me names because I don’t fit into their definition of a typical Indian girl,” she said. “So I decided to never do any of that. It was actually society which changed me for good. I decided to never do anything what a typical Indian woman would do. I remember my father walking with his head bowed because people used to come to him and tell him that his daughter is a whore.”
With her numerous tattoos, piercings and cropped hair, Sapna certainly doesn’t fit into the stereotype mould cast for Indian women by the society. When asked how she feels about it, pat came the reply, “Maybe everybody looks different and you are just the normal one, have you ever thought of that?”
In our country where everybody expects women to behave a certain way, the ones who don’t are looked down upon. When asked about how hard she works at fulfilling the expectations people have of her, she replied, “To be honest I surround myself with people who are very like minded and the others, well their opinions, don’t matter anyway. What their expectations are, I really don’t care. There are very few people who I care about and listen to and they know who I am. They don’t expect me to change at all.”
“I think the goal is to be comfortable with yourself and surround yourself with people who love you for who you are and not try to make you somebody else and the other people who judge you, don’t matter anyways,” she added.
Her indifference however, is only directed towards the society. When it comes to work and running her salon Mad O Wat, her rules are starkly different. “Humility!” she quips, “You cannot lead a team or even be a part of it without humility. I am my own boss at work and I am my own boss in my life too and the one thing that has taught me is to be humble. Knowing that Humility is the only way forward and will take you where you want to be. Ego is not. I feel that living like a boss is where you have to bow your head everyday and surrender and accept whatever comes your way, be it good or bad”.
But sometimes, it is not just the good or the bad that comes walking in. Sometimes it’s also the weird and the plainly funny that come to her. Sapna recounted this funny incident about a woman who came to her salon one day and wanted pubic hair extensions. “Yes, that’s right; she actually wanted pubic hair extensions, just like that, out of the blue. I said no. I told her, ‘I am sure there are many out there willing to do it for you, but I am just not your gal’.
Women in our country need to assert their rights and she feels strongly about it. She says ” Women on India need to know their rights and take them. We don’t need to be given any rights; we women don’t need to ask for any rights. We were born with our rights and it is ours to take.”
With 65 years of being a republic nation the women of our country are still fighting for their rights. What do the women of our country need right now, “I would probably say women in India need respect today,” she said. “Rights and all are secondary, but before that we need respect. We need to be respected as the citizens of this country and treated equally with men.”
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