How Pankaj and Mridula Tripathi Give Us Couple Goals

Pankaj and Mridula Tripathi: An actor who accepted on several public forums that while he struggled to find his feet in the industry it was his wife Mridula Tripathi who remained the breadwinner. In a free-wheeling chat with SheThePeople, the couple speaks about love, life, breaking stereotypes, father-daughter relationship and much more.

How important is it to you that your marital relationship is a relationship of equals? How important is it for women that their work, whether financial or otherwise, gets acknowledged? Do some men still find to admit in public that they love spending time in the kitchen and cooking? Most women will tell you when you are the women in charge of a household, it is acknowledgement or a kind word of appreciation, from their partner, is what they long for. And in a male-dominated society, it is hard to come by.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi's wife, Mridula Tripathi agrees with us, "Women are known to do the work but they are never acknowledged. One sentence of acknowledgement makes me my family and my daughter so happy."

She refers to the actor's confession that his wife and he survived on her income in Mumbai. She was a qualified school teacher and she got a job in Mumbai while he struggled hard to get make a mark in the industry. And admits that she was hardly adept in cooking and her husband cooked and packed her lunch as she went out for work every day.

The actor, however, believes what he said was "the truth" He believes nobody should hesitate from admitting a truth, whether it’s on national TV or any public forum? And why should people praise anyone so much for admitting what is the truth?

Well, sir, we haven’t seen many men, who are public figures, admit such a thing. It was and remains a refreshing statement. A good segment of our society still believes that by being a “man” you are responsible for earning money to run a household. We love you for giving us such couple goals.

Pankaj Tripathi and Mridula Tripathi; Watch our conversation with the couple here:

Mridula Tripathi on the other hand agrees that “in a male-dominated society it rarely happens that a man would admit his wife 'earned’ while he was struggling to establish his career.” She adds, “women are known to do the work but they are never acknowledged. That one sentence of acknowledgement makes me my family and my daughter so happy.”

What I said was the truth, why should anybody hesitate from admitting a truth, whether it’s on a national TV or any public forum? -Pankaj Tripathi

She added, “that if I was earning the money, he was making sure that there was food on the table to eat. He was looking after all the household work. We were two bicycle wheels both balancing each other out.” She goes on to say, “it is one sentence that makes every female very happy.”

For the uninitiated in 2018, Pankaj Tripathi had  said, “My wife Mridula and I survived on her income in Mumbai. She was a qualified school teacher and she got a job in Mumbai while I did what all out-of-town actors in Mumbai do... Struggle. My first major role was in Dharm in 2007 where I got to work with my namesake, the great Pankaj Kapur.”