Shark Tank India’s Namita Thapar says there’s lot of hate involved in balancing personal and work life; shares ‘I have been taunted by family members saying I am doing part time’

Namita Thapar of Shark Tank India opens up about the challenges of balancing personal and work life, revealing the intense scrutiny she faces. She highlighted the societal pressures and criticisms successful women often endure in their dual roles, her experience in Shark Tank India, political interests and more in Karishma Tanna’s podcast.

It’s been fantastic. None of us, who got into it, thought it would be so big. The show is teaching what I learnt in business school to the masses with very effective and fun story telling. So I go to airports and then 9 year old kids to 60 year old grandmothers, who come and start talking about EBITDA and cost of acquisition and equity and that's wonderful to see.

Definitely. So, you know, my father used to call me Munimji when I was a kid because I was always doing hisaab. I was very good at hisaab. So he was like, you become a chartered accountant. This is meant for you. So I was always very good with numbers. Even when you see me at the tank, I always want to know the numbers. Whether it's the pricing, or the sales, or the valuation, or the competitive benchmarks, my brain just works as an excel spreadsheet.

I am very patriotic, very nationalistic at heart. And I always felt that we should do something in our country that's important and so then, I fell in love and got married. And then I was like, my God, now I'm in the US. And it was like, I want to go back. But somehow, you just get busy and it never happens. And then I saw Swades and something in me, it touched my core so deeply. I'm not the crying type. But I cried for hours that day. And then that's the day my journey began in terms of how do I convince my husband to move back and I'm one of those very persistent people so I worked at it, I tried everything I could till I could convince him to move to India and give it a chance. So Ronnie's movie is the one that was a trigger to get me to strategize on how I move back and so I'm eternally grateful to that movie. And then I had fun with Ronnie as a co-shark.

I've known him before because he came as a speaker for my entrepreneurship academy that I run. And he's so gracious and so charming and so intelligent. I've known him for a while but you know as a co-shark the experience was different and he's wonderful. He knows about my love for the film Swades. He knows about it from years back when I called him as a speaker at my academy. And I think he just didn't know what to say. He was a bit speechless. But it was a very authentic and real story. And I just conveyed my very heartfelt gratitude to him.

I'm a filmy person in general like you know my sons are Veeru and Jai. I'm a filmy person in general but there has been a lot of film influences in my life as well. It's true I'm a very hardcore... Bachchan, Mr. Bachchan fan and then I shot with him twice for Kaun Banega Karotpati. And you know I'm called Basanti by everyone because I can't shut up. But with him, I was speechless. He still got that aura, that presence which is so fabulous.

I think to be in politics, you have to be a little tactful. And I have no filter. I'm a little... You'll learn. I don't know if I want to learn. Because I think I like myself the way I am. I have no filter. I say what I want. And I don't think that's a great skill for any politician. So I don't think I'll be a good one. I'll get in a lot of trouble, which I think is best avoided.

Honestly, there's no balance. Because I've said this very often, when I prioritize my work, my kids and many other family members hate me for it. So there's a lot of hate, there's a lot you have to deal with. When I prioritize my family at times, I've been taunted as, she's doing it part-time. I just took off for two hours to attend a PTA meeting. That's not part time. So, you know, it's like damn if you do, damn if you don't. There's no balance. You just have to wake up every morning, make your to-do list, be at peace with what you've decided and get on with life.