Pankaj Tripathi came to Mumbai with Rs 42,000, wife Mridula became the breadwinner: ‘I quit when he started earning, had my resignation ready’

Mridula was the breadwinner of the family when Pankaj Tripathi was trying to build his career as an actor. In a new interview, she revealed she always kept a resignation letter in my diary.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: October 26, 2024 08:10 PM IST

4 min read

Pankaj Tripathi's wife reflects on her decision to support her husband pursue his dreams. (Photo: Mridula Tripathi/Instagram)

Pankaj Tripathi’s wife, Mridula, was the sole breadwinner for their family while he pursued his acting career in Mumbai. After their marriage, they relocated to the city, where Mridula worked as a teacher to support the household while Pankaj focused on his dreams. The Mirzapur star often shares that he faced no extreme challenges during his initial days, thanks to his wife’s unwavering support. In a recent interview, Mridula reflected on their courageous decision to move to Mumbai with no savings and whether it affected her individuality.

In an interview with Conversations With Atul, the star wife revealed, “We didn’t have any savings when we shifted to Mumbai. I guess we hardly had about Rs 42,000 with us. It was not enough for even the house deposit. But, somehow we managed with it. We never went through any tragic incidents like having to sleep on the footpath or starving for days. We were quite sorted in life. We had a deal, ‘I am working currently and running the house, later, when you will start earning, I will quit.’ And it worked quiet well for us.”

When asked if in the process of supporting her husband, she had to give up her individuality, Mridula quickly replied, “I don’t see his success as one person’s success or one person’s passion for his work. I see it as I was the one who chose him. I am the one who has chosen this life. I am the one who has chosen this field. And so I have to work towards it. I didn’t choose a person who was already settled. I chose a person, who wanted to be this. If he was in another profession and then told me that now I want to do acting, then questioning my individuality would have been justified claiming I am making my life decisions according to him.”

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She added, “I was very clear about moving to Mumbai. I was very clear to him that I will support him in his journey. I don’t see it as I am doing something for him or that I have lost my identity. Absolutely not. And I don’t understand how people differentiate identities of people. To me, if two people look happy together in a picture, identities don’t really matter. I don’t see it as a sacrifice. I see it as I took life decisions for both of us according to both of us with each other’s consent. We never ordered each other anything or sacrificed our likes for each other. If he is a successful man today and well-known, I think people know me because he makes sure that they do. The fact that he always mentions me in his conversations and shares that we discussed things together, it simply shows we were never two different individuals, but a team.”

Mridula revealed that she was never compelled to work. She said, “Even when I was the breadwinner of the family, he (Pankaj Tripathi) had told me, ‘Always carry your resignation letter with you. If it ever comes to your self-respect, resign then and there.’ I always carried a resignation letter in my diary. A very simple, one-line resignation letter. And all this, when we had nothing. I never had to sacrifice anything. I did what I always wanted to do. Pankaj never allowed me to sacrifice anything.”

Pankaj Tripathi and Mridula met during their siblings’ wedding ceremony in 1993. In 2004, the couple tied the knot. They are parents to a daughter.

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