Priyanka Chopra tries to educate Westerners about India, says mom Madhu Chopra: ‘They think we only have snake charmers’

You can take the desi girl out of India but not India out of the desi girl, it seems. Priyanka Chopra currently spends the majority of her time in the US but she maintains ties to her Indian roots. The actor makes it a point to mark any happy occasion in the US with a traditional Hindu puja and rituals. In a recent interview, Priyanka’s mother Madhu Chopra clarified that she does it to quell the ignorance Westerners have about the country. Also read: Parineeti Chopra says Priyanka Chopra was ‘a soldier in hospital’ after Malti’s premature birth; Anushka, Ranveer react

Priyanka and husband Nick Chopra recently organized a puja at their Los Angeles home after their daughter Malti came home having spent more than a hundred days in the hospital. The couple welcomed Malti through surrogacy in January but she had to stay in the hospital as she was born premature. This was in line with how the family has celebrated most major milestones and festivals. She recently organised a party for Holi 

In an interaction with Hauterfly magazine, Madhu spoke about why Priyanka keeps the Indian culture and rituals alive in her US home. “She wants to educate them that you have a lot of misinformation about India. They think we have maharajas, elephants and snake charmers only. We have the best education, best IT, and the medical technology. Who will teach this? Our culture, our rituals, everything has so much good behind them. She believes in them and tries to keep it up there,” she said.

Madhu also opened up about her son-in-law singer Nick Jonas. At 29, Nick is a decade younger than Priyanka. While many have pointed out this age gap between the two, Madhu says it does not bother her. Calling him ‘sweet’, she added, “Whoever keeps Priyanka happy is my guy.”

Priyanka recently returned to work after welcoming her daughter Malti back home. The actor is shooting for Amazon Prime Video’s web series Citadel, which also stars Richard Madden.