Jonita Gandhi recalls being bullied for her facial hair, called 'Godzilla' in Canada: They just thought I was ugly
Singer Jonita Gandhi was born in Delhi to a Punjabi family. However, her parents moved to Canada with her when she was just nine months old, and she was raised there. In a recent chat with Hauterrfly, Jonita recalled receiving racist comments, being bullied for her facial hair, and revealed how it impacted her. (Also Read: Jonita Gandhi says industry people thought 'firang hai toh easy hai', recalls a composer messaged her to meet alone)
Jonita recalled facing racism in India after moving from Canada. She revealed that while growing up in Canada, she had enough brown people around her. However, she felt like an outsider when she first came to India. She recalled that even the way rickshaw drivers spoke to her, and how they charged her double, made her feel like she didn't belong.
Jonita then recalled being bullied for her facial hair and said, "I used to get a lot of racist comments while growing up. But I was more bothered about being bullied for my facial hair. I used to have curly side-locks. They used to call me Godzilla. I think they just thought I was ugly. I used to come home and cry. Even the Punjabi boys in my class would make fun of me."
She added that she struggled with body image issues and said, "Growing up, I was convinced that I was never going to have sex because of the same issues. I couldn't accept my own body; how can someone else accept it? I still have some of those issues; music helped me. It made me feel I am doing something different in life. That made me feel cool when nothing else made me feel cool. Even when I did shows in Toronto, I didn't dress up good. I used to wear a kurti, whereas everyone wore a lehenga. I feel like I am the ugly duckling who became the swan."
Meanwhile, Jonita is currently garnering praise for her new music video, titled Beparwai. Not just her vocals, but the singer has also impressed everyone with her sizzling dance moves. Sharing a clip from the video, she wrote on Instagram, "This one's been a long time coming and I'm so proud of it! Give it your love."
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