You are more connected to your body: Anushka Sharma reveals about pregnancy in interview to fashion magazine

Anushka, who will feature as the cover in Vogue India's January edition, revealed that she and her husband Virat Kohli were able to to keep the early months of pregnancy under wraps.

"The pandemic has been a weird blessing in a way. Virat was around and I could keep it a secret. We only left to go to the doctor’s clinic. No one was on the streets so we couldn’t be spotted,” said the actor-turned-producer whose production house delivered two critically-acclaimed series Pataal Lok and the feminist supernatural film Bulbbul in 2020.

Speaking of her pregnancy during the pandemic, Anushka said: "When you are expecting, you connect with people you never thought you would. Honestly, all the women in my life, not only my close friends, have been so kind, so helpful in reaching out. I do have friends who have babies, but they don’t live in Mumbai, so being able to discuss things—the overwhelming emotions, whether I’m behaving normal or hormonal..."

"For all those questions, you have to have that circle. I think it’s really underrated, that ‘sisterhood’.”

Speaking of food cravings, the actor revealed: “I was eating only toast and crackers for the first three months. So when it ended I wanted to eat vada pao and bhel puri, but that didn’t last long either. So no real cravings."

Anushka has been mostly staying active with walks and yoga, and while in Dubai, a little swimming.

“You are more connected to your body, to all that is happening. It’s mind-boggling when I see the changes. It’s amazing,” she told Vogue India.

On her preparations to embrace parenthood, the new age mom-to-be said: "I just want to be prepared. Everything is slower because of the times we are living in and I don’t like to rush things. This time in my life, even more so. I want the nursery to be very calm."

“I don’t believe that boys have to wear blue and girls pink. The nursery has all colours,” she added.

She also opened up on Kohli's decision to take paternity leave after the baby’s birth. “Times have changed. It’s important for children to look at parents—they learn from you. And there is a sense of normalcy that both of us do work. Of course, one will have to manage things differently and more efficiently to work," she said.

"We don’t see it as mum and dad duties, but as a family unit. For us, it’s important that our child be raised with a very balanced outlook. It is all about shared duties. I will be the primary caregiver, especially in the first few years, and that’s the reality," Anushka said.

"I am self-employed and I can decide when I am working if I do one or two films a year. In Virat’s case, he plays round the year. What becomes important is the time we spend together as a family.”

She also opened up about her plans to bring up the baby in the age of overzealous social media and the limelight celebrity kids enjoy these days.

"We’ve thought about it a lot. We definitely do not want to raise a child in the public eye—we don’t plan on engaging our child in social media. I think it’s a decision your child should be able to take."

"No kid should be made to be more special than the other. It’s hard enough for adults to deal with it. It’s going to be difficult, but we intend to follow through,” she said.