Faye D'Souza knows, the pen isn't mightier than motherhood 

Social get-togethers with the elders in your family is like a multi-course meal. First come the enquires about your job or shaadi (try these conversation starters if you need a distraction), followed by casually offensive comments about your weight, some comparisons with Sharmaji ki ladki, and finally, politics for dessert. Between the high-pitched opining on potholes and political ideologies, served with a side of creamy paneer tikka, comes the inevitable bashing of the ways of the younger generation. Awkward silences ensue.

Now, you and I may not be equipped to handle such polarising conversations, but journalist Faye D’Souza is. In fact, over the course of her decades-spanning career, the former prime-time TV news reporter, has taken on not only belligerent uncles at dinner parties, but anyone anyone trying to control and or curb her reporting style.

In the latest episode of The Icons, D’Souza sits down with Tweak founder Twinkle Khanna to talk about her journey as a journalist, and her transition into motherhood.

The accidental news anchor

Before the threat of an AI takeover was hanging over humanity’s head like a talvaar, and social media hadn’t exploded to become our primary medium of information, we relied primarily on TV news to make sense of the world. And D’Souza was among the country’s top prime-time anchors, distilling tough facts and asking poignant questions. But her foray into journalism was accidental.

As a 20-year-old, D’Souza applied for a role at the All India Radio, only to accompany a friend who wanted the position, but ended up bagging the job instead. “It was a freelance position and I used to go to college in the day, so I worked the late-night request show. Every hour, we would be given a sheet and we had to read out the news. And that was the first time I read the news,” she recalls. The lesson here, kids, is that you never know which door of opportunity might open for you.

Knowing when to take the plunge

Stepping away from your comfort zone to jump into the great unknown is not for the faint-hearted. But if you decide to take the plunge, supported by self-belief and the care of community and loved ones, rest assured, you’ll float. And that’s what D’Souza did. At the height of her career, she left a secure, well-padded job for a new entrepreneurial beginning, and greater professional freedom. How did she know it was the right choice? “My answer to myself was, I will do [the job] as long as it is honest. And the moment it stops being honest, I will stop doing it,” she says.

“You’re a family friend at best”

The pen is mightier than the sword, but it certainly isn’t mightier than motherhood. In 2022, when D’Souza gave birth to her son, she realised everything she liked to do, or didn’t, had changed. “Nobody tells you about the mental load,” she says. “Before I had a kid, I didn’t care about all these things, [but] now I have to make sure that the food we’re buying is well chosen, something is organic, something else is made at home. You suddenly start to care.” As Khanna adds, it’s the only phase in your life that’ll compel you to grow.

What D’Souza discovered, however, was that this life-changing experience barely had an impact on her husband’s life. While everything from body to her routines was no longer the same. “After all of that, he gets to say I have a son. And I said, no you don’t have a son, you’re a family friend at best! I have the son, I’m the one doing all the work, how can this be equal?” she jokes.

Watch the episode to learn more.