Shark Tank India’s Namita Thapar opens up about her self esteem struggles: Did not like myself till I was 21

On Shark Tank India, Namita Thapar proved herself to be a fierce shark indeed. The self assured businesswoman became a favourite of many fans, but it seems it took her a lot of struggle to get where she is today. Namita recently opened up about how she struggled with her self-image when she was younger.

In conversation with Chetan Bhagat, Namita spoke of how she had very low self esteem during her school days. “The first time I liked myself and felt good about myself was at 21 when I became a chartered accountant. For 21 years I did not like myself”, she said.

She spoke of how she always used to come second to most of her cousins when it came to academics, which led to instances of comparisons between them. She said she judged herself based on her looks, marksheet and more. Looking back on it now, she realised how insignificant it was, as no one ran up to her to ask her about her grades she got when she was in the tenth standard. The businesswoman said that she spent a lot of the early years of her life crying, instead of making delightful memories.

The businesswoman opened about the inner demons she had which she herself had created, including feeling that she did not feel attractive enough. She said that she did not open up about her ‘self limiting’ behaviour to anyone at the time either, as she didn't have many friends and was a lonely person. Namita talked about how she used to bottle up all of her problems, which was why it went on as long as it did.

Drawing from her own life experience, Namita spoke of how important it was for people in the public eye, such as herself, to talk about their flaws and imperfections.