Sep 16, 2026 · 52 min · 20 segments
On this episode of Diaspora Dialogues by TOI™, Anirudh Pisharody, Des from Netflix's Never Have I Ever, joins Sujatha Padmanabhan to talk about the role that unexpectedly turned him into a global…
Anirudh PisharodyGuest
Sujatha PadmanabhanHostI've been interviewing several people and then most of them are like, oh, the parents were completely against it or they were disappointed or things like that.
They were, I mean, look, I think like any parent, there was a little bit of pushback, you know, like, are you making the right decision? And I think as, as the years went on, you know, constantly, you know, my parents would be like, okay, I mean, it's not too late to do this.
But I think overall there was never, there's never like a sense of shame or anything like that.
They were very like constantly asking, how's it going? You know, how, uh, what can we do to help all that sort of stuff? And, You know, I don't take that for granted.
And I think I had this episode with Vidya Vox where she said, you should pursue your passion only if you have the support, financial, sometimes initially you need that from parents, which she did not have when she started off.
Otherwise, you still probably need a safety script is what I'm hearing from a lot of people, but it's just, I don't know your thoughts.
I think, so I was asked this question before a while ago and I don't think it's one way or the other.
I think it's that the answer really lies somewhere in the middle, because for me, I mean, initially, listen, I had enough saved up where I could kind of, you know, pursue it for a little bit, but inevitably you have to do some sort of side hustle.
And I think the main situation, there's an aspect where you have to fake it till you make it, but also depending on what you're coming from, there's going to be a lifestyle shift.
And I think if you're passionate enough about what you want to do, That's the only thing that matters and everything else you're kind of willing to sacrifice to some level, trips, seeing family, all that sort of stuff.
And personally, I feel like if you're focused on, if you have a passion, but then you have the safety net that's going, that's living underneath you, You're kind of attached to it.
So when you jump for your passion, you're constantly going to get pulled down because in the back of your mind, you're thinking, oh, but I can always fall back on this.
I've been interviewing several people and then most of them are like, oh, the parents were completely against it or they were disappointed or things like that.
They were, I mean, look, I think like any parent, there was a little bit of pushback, you know, like, are you making the right decision? And I think as, as the years went on, you know, constantly, you know, my parents would be like, okay, I mean, it's not too late to do this.
But I think overall there was never, there's never like a sense of shame or anything like that.
They were very like constantly asking, how's it going? You know, how, uh, what can we do to help all that sort of stuff? And, You know, I don't take that for granted.
And I think I had this episode with Vidya Vox where she said, you should pursue your passion only if you have the support, financial, sometimes initially you need that from parents, which she did not have when she started off.
Otherwise, you still probably need a safety script is what I'm hearing from a lot of people, but it's just, I don't know your thoughts.
I think, so I was asked this question before a while ago and I don't think it's one way or the other.
I think it's that the answer really lies somewhere in the middle, because for me, I mean, initially, listen, I had enough saved up where I could kind of, you know, pursue it for a little bit, but inevitably you have to do some sort of side hustle.
And I think the main situation, there's an aspect where you have to fake it till you make it, but also depending on what you're coming from, there's going to be a lifestyle shift.
And I think if you're passionate enough about what you want to do, That's the only thing that matters and everything else you're kind of willing to sacrifice to some level, trips, seeing family, all that sort of stuff.
And personally, I feel like if you're focused on, if you have a passion, but then you have the safety net that's going, that's living underneath you, You're kind of attached to it.
So when you jump for your passion, you're constantly going to get pulled down because in the back of your mind, you're thinking, oh, but I can always fall back on this.
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