“As women, we must always exercise our choice," Dia Mirza shuts down a troll with characteristic dignity and grace

MUMBAI: The actor was responding to a follower’s judgmental comment about her pregnancy

Actor, producer and champion of nature Dia Mirza’s social media posts routinely exude clarity of thought, courage of conviction and verbal poise. Be it her stand on environmental and gender issues or the decisions she takes about her own life, her posts articulate her deep belief in the  interconnectedness of life. It was no surprise then that her recent pregnancy announcement invoked mother earth and the life force that flows through everything and everyone.

But since social media can be a toxic playground for trolls looking for a few seconds of notoriety, the actor’s Instagram account attracted a few intrusive and judgemental comments.

The actor who rarely engages with negative posts, took time to school a troll for making an irrational and graceless comment about the timing of the announcement. And why the announcment could not have been made before the wedding among other assorted remarks. 

With remarkable patience, Dia responded, “Interesting question. Firstly, we didn't marry because we were having a baby together. We were already marrying as we wanted to spend our lives together. We discovered we were going to have a baby while we were planning our wedding. So this marriage is not the result of pregnancy. We didn't announce the pregnancy until we knew its safe (medical reasons). This is the happiest news of my life. I've waited for many many years for this to happen. No way I would hide it for any reason other than medical. 
Only answering this because: 
1) Having a child is a beautiful gift of life 
2) There must never be any shame attached to this beautiful journey 
3) As women we must always exercise our choice
4) Whether we choose to be single and parent a child or be in a marriage it is after all our choice
5) As a society we must un stereotype our idea of what is right or wrong, instead of training ourselves to ask what is fair or unfair.”

If this is not a master class in troll slaying , we don’t know what is.