Diana Penty recalls harrowing experiences on Mumbai trains that frightened her: "People try to elbow you…"

Diana Penty has shared her uncomfortable experiences commuting by local trains in Mumbai during college. In an interview with Hauterrfly, the Cocktail actress revealed she was often catcalled and elbowed in crowded compartments, incidents that frightened her. She also mentioned being body-shamed for being "too skinny" at the time.

Diana responded when asked if she had ever experienced inappropriate touching while traveling on a bus or in a crowded place, “I think every girl in Bombay has gone through this. To go to college, St Xavier’s, I used to take the train—the central line from Byculla to VT—and then walk to college. There’s catcalling, and people try to elbow you. It became a part of daily life. I was a very shy, underconfident, conscious and awkward girl. I would go into a shell. It would scare me. I didn’t have the confidence to elbow back."

Diana also reflected on her youth, revealing she was quite thin until her late twenties and frequently endured body-shaming. “It scarred me. You’re a child, and if people keep telling you, ‘Oh, you’re so skinny, you don’t eat?’ And some aunties would go up to my mother and say this. She used to get so irritated—like why wouldn’t I feed my child? As a child, you start becoming conscious of the fact that you’re too skinny. It was awful."

Diana shared her mother once consulted a paediatric dietician, who recommended six bananas daily to help her gain weight, though she could only eat four. Despite this, nothing changed. Diana spent much of her life trying to gain weight and feel more accepted, often avoiding sleeveless outfits and layering clothes.

Diana Penty currently stars in Detective Sherdil, a mystery-comedy on ZEE5, alongside Diljit Dosanjh, Boman Irani, Chunky Panday, and Banita Sandhu. She will also appear in Section 84, a legal thriller with Amitabh Bachchan and Nimrat Kaur, though the release date is unconfirmed.