Shilpa Bala breaks moulds and sets couples, parenting & friendship goals

A recent video of Shilpa Bala with her daughter Yamika went viral. The four-year-old asks about Shilpa’s ‘diapers’ and the TV anchor explains that they are sanitary pads used by women. And as if the parenting goals weren’t enough, she has been posting videos shaking a leg with her husband Dr Vishnu Gopalan and they present some serious #CouplesGoals.
So how does a medical oncologist match his celeb wife ‘step for energetic step’? “You know what?” asks Shilpa, “He was a university kalaprathibha and had the record of scoring a hattrick with the title; so he’s super talented artistically, and while he pursued medicine — again on scholarships — I was always also keen to promote his talent.”

Apparently, while the couple’s first viral dance was the one that they performed as a surprise at the wedding of Shilpa’s sister two years back, Vishnu was slightly reticent about performing again, because he felt he might not be taken seriously in his profession. “After this video went viral, everyone at the hospital has been telling him how adipoli his dance was, and apart from a slight embarrassment, because he works in a serious atmosphere, he has been happy to try more dancing. I feel teachers, principals, engineers and others, should all take to it. Don’t be shy; it will make you happy and will only make others like you better,” she says.

As for her video with her daughter, Shilpa says that since kids nowadays are exposed to so much more than her and previous generations were, it makes sense to give straight, honest answers to their curious questions. “We have an obligation to educate girls and boys sensibly. Sure, sugarcoat it with things like, angels bring this and fairies do that, so that it is palatable to them, but also mix in as much of the science as is appropriate for their age,” says Shilpa.
The anchor, who hosted popular shows such as Dance Kerala Dance and Comedy Utsavam, was also one of the group of gal pals, who with Sayanora, Bhavana, Ramya Nambeesan and Mridula Murali, went viral with their dance in casual ‘home clothes’ to Kahi Aag Lage Lag Jave. “We were jamming together and decided to shoot this. And then one by one, everyone said, ‘oh, I can’t be bothered to change out of what I’m wearing’, so we just did it as a spontaneous thing and someone said, ‘Oh, this looks fun, I’m going to upload this’, and it just exploded. And while some people made some unbelievably crazy comments that really made me fearful, we just have to think that most people responded positively saying that we reminded them about their own friends’ group and want to do the same thing,” she says.
Their girl gang is one that has been a close-knit one for over a decade and they have gone on trips together and have always been there for each other in tough situations, she says. “Each of us was faced with difficult times recently and even when we had tough situations on the work front, we made sure that we were there for each other, and so the relationship has been growing. We are grateful for this friendship and cherish it,” she says.