Every parent dreams of their children making it big in any chosen field but one wonders what it must have taken for the actors in the tele land to convince their parents when they had embarked on in the profession which has its fair share of insecurities in the big bad world of glamour. There are quite a few people from the telly brigade who have had academically inclined parents,who gave their children the go ahead green signal to make it big in the profession.
Suchitra Pillai who is a qualified engineer herself says she got into the profession

"My ability to bring about a smile on people's faces makes my family proud of me"

quite by fluke. It was her mom who encouraged her to join the profession the time she was getting interesting offers from the modeling industry , though her father was a bit skeptical as the profession demands a lot of struggle. She belongs to a family of doctors,teachers and engineers.
" My parents never consciously forced me into taking up any profession and my career decisions have never been influenced by anyone. My mom would accompany me to every shoot in my initial modeling days. There were people telling me that I'd be a waste in the glamour world but eventually my talent spoke for itself. I would say, sooner than later they realized this is my calling and this is what I want to do with my life. My films, plays and advertisements would make them proud besides the fact that I made it on my on in this profession," smiles Suchitra studied in London for a short while and worked in restaurants to earn some quick bucks but soon got offers for music videos, theatre and radio drama's followed by a stint as a VJ besides acting Margarita and Hip Hip Hurray.
Today Suchitra's father loves to spend hours reading up articles on his daughter and recommends them to his wife too.

Considering most parents prefer their kids to walk on the tried and tested path mainly because it is a safer career option, parents have opened up to the idea of their daughters joining the profession for their pure love for the art.

Renuka Sahane's mother Shanta Gokhale is a Professor in English in HR and

" My mom was aware of the credentials of the people I was working with"

Elphinston College besides she has worked with Times of India and continues to a freelance writer. While Renuka was always interested in theatre, she enjoyed acting as much and got into television later. While television wasn't that popular in her days she claims however people did theatre along with television.
" I was taking a break before doing PHD in Clinical Psychology and decided to do television. My parents were academically inclined but they have had a holistic way of looking at the other professions besides I have been exposed to the extra-curricular activities since childhood. Mom was aware of the credentials of the people I was working with. I learnt a lot of things from this profession and the reason I chose this profession was not to earn name, fame or glamour. My parents have had no restrictions about my profession and have trusted my judgments so for them, working in the television industry meant a family like atmosphere ," says Renuka who entered the profession because Aziz Mirza her director cum mentor in the show Circus convinced her to quit studies.
Also Renuka points out that "My parents were satisfied with their work so they never wanted to live any sort of dreams through us. They wanted me to do my best without getting corrupted or breaking any rules."

While VJ Cyrus Sahukar whose mother is an English teacher in Delhi besides having written biographies for many books has a funny tale to tell.

" I was lucky to get into television"

"The women in my house have been very talented while the men have been useless. I got lucky and managed to get into television. I had been doing theatre from a very young age besides I liked chatting and being with people. My family stays in Delhi and when I came to Mumbai I had heard that the city is very harsh but honestly I had never met nicer people than I had met here in the city. All my VJ friends have been family to me.My father thought we should have a cosmetic surgeon in the family but I wanted to become a gardener," laughs Cyrus who became a VJ by the virtue of his gift of the gab.

Tisca Chopra's parents are both principals at a school in Delhi while Priya Wal's father is a principal in a school in Ooty. Besides Shenaz Teasurywala's mother is also a professor. Going by the standards it won't be long before we see more academicians removing the reservations of having thier kith and kins in the profession.