‘Let’s go freeze our eggs’: Rhea Chakraborty opens up about leaning on female friendships during 2020 crisis; why people make impulsive choices in tough times

As the conversation unfolded, Rhea spoke openly about the weight of that year and the role her female friendships played in keeping her afloat. She said, “The year 2020 was a difficult time in my life. As my dad says, if it weren’t for these women, we would have never survived. Now we don’t need a temple in the house, we need a picture of these women.” 

Another close friend, fashion stylist Anisha Jain, reflected on that period with honesty: “2020 was a lot, and we did what we had to. I don’t know where that courage came from.” Rhea’s friend Samiksha Shetty also recalled a moment that surprised her during that time: “She just came to me one day and said, ‘We have to do this one thing’, and I thought she wants to get her nails done, but she said, ‘Let’s go freeze our eggs’.”

Why strong friendships become such a critical emotional anchor during prolonged crises

Gurleen Baruah, existential analyst at That Culture Thing, tells indianexpress.com, “In times like legal trouble, public blame or grief, friends become your immediate chosen family. They are equals, not authority figures, not people analysing you. They stand by you without asking you to explain yourself again and again. That kind of presence gives courage.” 

 

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She continues, “When everything feels heavy and uncertain, friends help you hold hope, sometimes even before you feel it yourself. Being surrounded by peers gives a sense of safety and belonging. That emotional holding cannot always come from family or professionals. It comes from shared humanity.”

Understanding impulsive choices emotionally during tough times

Reflecting on Rhea’s alleged decision to freeze her eggs, Baruah states that, emotionally, during crises, people face deep uncertainty about life, time, and the future. “There is often existential anxiety: fear that time is running out, or that choices will be taken away. Sometimes we act from our own checklist, sometimes from society’s checklist that we think is ours. Making a decision gives a sense of control when everything else feels out of control. Each individual responds differently. No one explanation fits all.”

How the human mind accesses resilience in moments of overwhelm

When things are overwhelming, Baruah mentions, you are not thinking about resilience. You are just surviving. You do what needs to be done because there’s no other option. The mind goes into a very basic mode: get through today, then tomorrow. Meaning comes later. 

“As humans, we make sense of life in hindsight. Only after things settle do we realise, ‘Oh, that was strength.’ At the time, it just felt like doing what we had to. Resilience often becomes visible only once we are out of it, not while we are inside it,” concludes the expert.