Actor Rakul Preet Singh has seen the image of strength and sacrifice in her mother Rini Singh, and in our special Mother’s Day series, the mother-daughter duo reflects on it. Born and brought up in Ambala, Rini did her master’s degree in economics and a B.Ed course. She also taught professionally in school for a long time before she decided to take up the role of a homemaker. “Being a homemaker is the toughest job. I don’t think this generation, including me, has an iota of skills of what our mothers have done,” Rakul insists.
Talking about her decision to quit her job and be a homemaker, Rini shares, “When my husband was posted in the ministry in Delhi, we weren’t living in cantonment anymore. So, I wanted to spend quality time with my kids and chose to quit my job and become a homemaker. Rakul and Aman (Preet Singh, Rakul’s brother) had taken up golf by then, so I started taking them to the training and every day those four-five hours I would spend with them.”
The actor’s father, Col Kulvinder Singh, is a retired army man, and Rakul insists that it is “the toughest to be an army officer’s wife.” “There used to be times when dad was posted at border areas. We didn’t have phones at the time, but my mom was fearlessly raising me and my brother. We never felt that our father wasn’t around, or our mother was scared. She never let that fear of the unknown reflect on us,” she shares. Adding to it, Rini says, “I never gave myself time to think about the negative. I kept myself busy and used that time to make my kids learn everything out there.”
Recalling their early days memories, Rakul shares, “We were in North-East for four years when dad was posted at the Manipur border. At that time, if we didn’t have anything to do at home, mom would ask us to dance or sing and start recording us. Often on weekends, we would travel in convoys to go and meet dad. There were many people who wouldn’t do that because of the risk involved, but my mom was fearless.” Ask Rini where she got that courage from and she says, “Sometimes ignorance is bliss.”
While Rakul has immense stories of her mother’s strength, even Rini has her share of being amused by her daughter: “She was so confident during Miss India. I didn’t think she would be comfortable in a bikini, but she did it really well. Her thinking also was so mature and she was just 18. I am a proud mother to have given birth to such a strong woman. So many people tell us ‘Bachcha ho to Rakul jaisa’.”
The actor credits her mother for the career she has today. She says, “My mom was the one to identify my talent and say I should act and go for Miss India. I used to diligently watch Miss India every year, and one day she told me I should apply too. I was a bit tomboyish at the time and I said I wouldn’t be able to do it, but she was confident in me. She went with me for my bikini shopping and everything. While dad also never had any reservations, mom was the one to tell him ‘It’s her dream and if she wants to do it, we should let her’.”
