It is critical for us to cultivate consciousness and compassion towards our environment, create awareness, galvanize people, and build sustainable innovations for sustainable development.

Don't hold back from being an 'empath.' Don't be afraid of shedding your tears. Feel it. Feel the full extent of everything. It gives us strength.

Fortunately, I have never been a victim of sexual harassment. But there have been instances where I have lost out on work or people have shown disinterest in working with me because I was unwilling to succumb to this unspoken understanding of patriarchy.

I believe in the power of one and that we are all bound by the thread of oneness and humanity.

It's important to be a witness to reality as this world can consume you.

What gives you strength at any circumstance is your understanding of yourself.

My father was a German architect and graphic designer, who travelled all over the world, teaching teachers on how to teach. On one such visit to the Max Mueller Bhavan in Delhi, he met my mother.

I have discovered the virtue of patience and I don't quite believe that taking a break for good reason can be a risk.

I have always believed that an artiste needs to respond to a story first. One has to feel it in order to live it.

I think good work, sincerity and discipline speak for themselves.

I did not set up Born Free because I wanted to see myself in films... I want to take my aspirations to another level.

I've been meditating since 14 years and my mornings are spent in the building garden.

I happened to be spotted by a modeling agent who offered me a part-time job at 16. Everything happened very quickly after that - advertising campaigns, fashion shows, editorial shoots.

I'm a minimalist: For a day look, I like earth tones,and at night I go with kohl and a smudgy black eye.

People worship and revere Ganga as a mother, and then throw away flowers in a plastic bag into the same river.

I don't give in and I don't believe in giving up. This comes naturally to me, I know no other way.

While growing up, I saw how finances can play havoc in anybody's life. While we were comfortable, money didn't come easy.

It is impossible to teach people to conserve nature if they don't learn to love nature.

One thing led to another and I was selected from Hyderabad for the Miss India pageant. I remember my mother being really surprised that I wanted to take part!

I always wanted to play a bigger part in the process of cinema, so production felt like a very natural progression and calling.

I think every opportunity, every disappointment, every rejection, every accolade... everything has contributed in shaping my character and my choices and who I have become.

Children are my favorite people, because they inspire me with their optimism and spirit.

There are many women who are getting the opportunity to play fantastic parts on the web like Huma Qureshi in 'Leila,' Shefali Shah in 'Delhi Crime' and so many others. It gives opportunity to those who are not getting the work that they desire to do because of their age. So web is doing a social service.

It's really wrong to judge someone because of their beliefs.

I have 32 sweet teeth. I love everything from chocolates of all kinds to panna cotta to Khubhani ka Meetha and Double ka Meetha.

Give me rice, dal and some aachar any day, or a Spaghetti Bolognese.

Some people feel divorce is an excuse to not compromise. Yes, in life you have to adapt and compromise. But the questions is - when does it stop? How much is too much, how less is too little? That's a personal choice.

My privilege as a celebrity doesn't disallow me pain.

Being married to a wonderful, motivating partner has brought happiness and a greater sense of purpose to my life.

Be it acting, writing, directing or producing, I love cinema. I love the art of telling stories and I'm happy doing one of the above or all of the above.

The only challenge I faced in the beginning was that no one believed I could seriously see a film through.

'Kaafir' has come along because I have never been more aligned with my truth.

I was born and brought up in Hyderabad.

When I was just four-and-a-half, my parents separated and both my parents remarried.

Participating in Miss India was a paradigm shift and I had a blast.

I started cooking when I was growing up in Hyderabad, and I was already pretty decent when I was around seven years old.

I can make a mean Kachchi Biryani, and sometimes I bake it, too.

When I was younger, back home in Hyderabad even I faced a stalker. I confronted him and asked him his name. That moment, the boy didn't have an answer.

One should never ignore or be afraid of reporting or calling out a harasser. There is no shame in doing so.

Every role I have in my kitty is different. None of them resemble the roles I have played in my earlier films.

Dia is the way my name was originally spelt. When I was applying for my passport for the Femina Miss India Contest, someone spelt my name as Diya. Since it was on my passport, I couldn't do much about it.

Beauty is not about good skin, features and figure, but about your nature and habits.

I am in Deepak Ramsay's 'Koi Mere Dil Mein Hain,' where I am a modern girl who wears bold outfits. She makes heads turn wherever she goes. She is not a brat. She nurses this false belief that she can get any man she wants.

Beauty judgements are many and while we think that light skin women have no judgements to deal with. There is this filmmaker I love and respect and I really wanted to work with, once told me 'You are too fair to be in my movies.' And then I have also heard 'You are too pretty to play this part.'

I was told 'You should just do commercials and Bollywood' and Bollywood would be said to me like it's a bad thing.

It's really the tone that people use to convey things sometimes that can either become a compliment or an insult. It's not always what you are saying, it's about how you say it.

I grew up on a staple of films where I saw actors like Waheeda Rehman, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi playing very powerful parts in films.

I chose to be part of 'Kaafir' because the story called out to my soul, I need to connect with it.

I was allowed to take my adoptive father's surname. My birth certificate has a different name. My passport has both my adoptive and biological father's surnames.

I lost my biological father at nine, but up until then, we celebrated Christmas and Easter too.