Absence Without Void: Palak Tiwari Reveals Why Growing Up Fatherless Never Felt Like a Loss

By Tanveer Zaidi

MUMBAI — The question is one that children of single parents hear far too often. Does it feel like something is missing?

Palak Tiwari has spent years hearing it. And for years, she has had the same answer. No.

In a recent interview with the digital platform Yuvaa, the 24-year-old actor and daughter of television star Shweta Tiwari opened up about her childhood with remarkable clarity.

The absence of her father, actor Raja Chaudhary, never registered as a void — not because she was taught to ignore it, but because the presence around her was simply too full to leave room for emptiness.

“It never really bothered me,” Palak said. “A child is like a sponge… You reflect whatever your parents show you. It never felt like something was missing.”

The Full House That Left No Cracks

The word “broken home” assumes the absence of a father creates a structural collapse. Palak’s description of her upbringing suggests otherwise.

“I had my nani, my mom, my family… it was a full house,” she said. Her grandmother, she explained, was not a substitute parent but a primary one.

During the years when Shweta Tiwari worked gruelling television hours, it was her nani who raised her completely — teaching her, shaping her, becoming the person Palak says she resembles most.

The household, as Palak describes it, operated on a principle that had little to do with traditional patriarchal structures. “We were always a women-first household,” she said.

The Incident That Defined Everything

There is a moment from her childhood that Palak recalls with particular sharpness. Someone once remarked that she did not have a father at home.

She told her mother. And Shweta Tiwari did not let the comment pass.

“She went to his house and said, ‘She does have a family…” It’s her nani, it’s me… we are her family,” Palak recounted.

The response was not defensive. It was declarative. It did not fill a perceived gap — it simply refused to acknowledge that any gap existed.

Good Girl Versus Happy Woman

Perhaps the most revealing part of the interview came when Palak discussed how she was raised — not with the pressure of being “good,” but with the freedom to be happy.

“My mom has never looked at me and said, ‘ Be a good girl,” Palak said. The household rule was simpler: “Whatever makes me happy is what she is happy with.”

This, she suggested, is a distinction worth understanding. “I think there is a reason why girls are called ‘good’ and women are called ‘strong’,” she observed. Her choice is clear. “I’d rather be a happy woman than a good girl. Good is subjective anyway.”

Shweta Tiwari’s parenting, by all accounts, was structured but not restrictive. She set curfews — “If you have said that you will be back by 1 am, you should be at the door at 1” — and she tracked her daughter’s phone.

She did not allow Palak to wear makeup until she was sixteen or have a personal phone until she finished school, but these rules were presented as frameworks for safety and discipline, not as constraints on joy.

The Financial Education That Came With Chores

Shweta Tiwari’s approach to teaching financial responsibility was unusually direct. Palak was given a monthly budget.

If she exceeded it, she was expected to compensate through household chores — cleaning her bathroom, making her bed, washing dishes — each with a fixed monetary value

The lesson was not about punishment. It was about understanding that money has a source and that choices have consequences.

Today, Shweta still manages most of Palak’s earnings, saving and investing them while leaving only a limited amount in her daughter’s account. Palak jokes about being made “kangaal” — impoverished — but the joke carries an undercurrent of gratitude.

A Career in Motion

Palak Tiwari’s public profile has grown considerably in recent years. She made her acting debut with a brand advertisement before stepping into films like ‘The Bhootnii’.

Her OTT debut arrives on May 8 with ‘Lukkhe’, a Prime Video series in which she plays musician Sanober — a young woman attempting to find her place again while navigating strength and vulnerability

The series, described as a gritty mix of rap, crime, and stylised action, co-stars rapper King and Lakshvir Singh Saran. For Palak, the role resonates personally.

“Sanober’s journey felt very real to me,” she said at the pre-launch event in May 2026. She’s trying to find her place again, while dealing with both strength and vulnerability.”

The Dad Who Stayed Away

Raja Chaudhary, Palak’s biological father, has remained largely absent from her life. Following his divorce from Shweta Tiwari, custody of Palak was granted to her mother.

Later, Shweta married Abhinav Kohli in 2013, a relationship that ended in divorce in 2019 following allegations of domestic abuse — with Palak herself coming forward to clarify that while Kohli had never physically molested her, he made “inappropriate and disturbing remarks” that profoundly affected her

Yet Palak does not speak of these experiences with bitterness. She speaks of her mother’s fortitude. Of her grandmother’s presence.

Of a household where women did not merely survive — they thrived.

The Lesson the Interview Left Behind

What makes Palak Tiwari’s interview remarkable is not the absence she describes. It is the presence she insists upon.

A child raised without a father might be expected to express loss, longing, or resentment. Palak expresses none of these.

Instead, she describes a childhood filled with the women who showed up, every single day, without apology and without substitute.

“I have never felt deprived of anything in my life,” she said.

Not because she did not notice what was missing. But because, in her house, nothing ever was.

—About the writer: Tanveer Zaidi has played lead roles in over a dozen Bollywood movies and numerous television series.

He has authored several fictional novels and thousands of articles on various subjects.

बिना पिता के बड़ी हुईं पलक तिवारी, पर कभी खलल महसूस नहीं हुआ

एक्ट्रेस ने खोला अपना बचपन, कहा- बच्चा स्पंज की तरह होता है, आप जो दिखाते हैं वही सोखता है

लेखक: तनवीर ज़ैदी

मुंबई — यह सवाल सिंगल पेरेंट्स के बच्चों से अक्सर पूछा जाता है। क्या लगता है कि कुछ कमी है?

पलक तिवारी सालों से यह सवाल सुनती आ रही हैं। और उनका जवाब हमेशा एक ही रहा है — नहीं।

हाल ही में डिजिटल प्लेटफॉर्म ‘युवा’ को दिए इंटरव्यू में, टेलीविजन स्टार श्वेता तिवारी की बेटी पलक ने अपने बचपन पर खुलकर बात की । अपने पिता, एक्टर राजा चौधरी, की अनुपस्थिति ने कभी कोई कमी महसूस नहीं होने दी।

“इससे मुझे कभी कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ा,” पलक ने कहा । “बच्चा स्पंज की तरह होता है… आप बच्चे को जो दिखाते हो, वह वही दर्शाता है। मुझे कभी लगा ही नहीं कि जैसे कुछ कमी है।”

वह भरा हुआ घर

पलक अपने बचपन को ‘भरा हुआ घर’ कहकर याद करती हैं। नानी, माँ, परिवार — सब कुछ मौजूद था। जब श्वेता तिवारी टेलीविजन की लंबी शिफ्ट में व्यस्त रहती थीं, तो उनकी नानी ने ही उन्हें पूरी तरह पाला-पोसा ।

उनके घर ने एक सिद्धांत पर काम किया। “हम हमेशा से ‘वीमेन-फर्स्ट’ घर थे,” उन्होंने कहा ।

वह घटना जिसने सब कुछ परिभाषित कर दिया

पलक एक बचपन की घटना बड़े गर्व से याद करती हैं। किसी ने एक बार टिप्पणी कर दी कि उनके घर पर कोई पिता नहीं है।

उन्होंने अपनी माँ को बताया। और श्वेता तिवारी ने खुद जाकर सीधे कहा — “उसका परिवार है… उसकी नानी है, मैं हूँ… हम उसका परिवार हैं” ।

‘गुड गर्ल’ की बजाय ‘हैप्पी वुमन’

पलक के अनुसार, उनकी माँ ने उन्हें कभी ‘गुड गर्ल’ बनने का दबाव नहीं दिया। “मेरी माँ ने मुझे कभी यह नहीं कहा कि ए गुड गर्ल बनो। वह हमेशा कहती है कि खुश रहो,” पलक ने कहा ।

वह इस अंतर को समझाते हुए कहती हैं, “लड़कियों को ‘गुड’ कहा जाता है और महिलाओं को ‘स्ट्रॉन्ग’। मैं गुड गर्ल की बजाय एक हैप्पी वुमन बनना पसंद करूंगी” ।

अनुशासन और पैसे की समझ

श्वेता तिवारी की परवरिश में नियम थे लेकिन वे दमनकारी नहीं थे। पलक को मेकअप की अनुमति 16 साल की उम्र से मिली। उनके पास स्कूल खत्म होने तक निजी फोन नहीं था ।

बजट के भीतर रहना भी एक सीख थी। अगर पलक अपने मासिक बजट से अधिक खर्च कर देती थीं, तो घर के काम करके उसकी भरपाई करनी पड़ती थी ।

बढ़ता करियर

पलक तिवारी ‘लुक्खे’ से ओटीटी डेब्यू कर रही हैं, जो 8 मई, 2026 को प्राइम वीडियो पर रिलीज हो रही है । यह सीरीज रैप, क्राइम और एक्शन का मिश्रण है। पलक इस सीरीज में संगीतकार ‘सनोबर’ की भूमिका में हैं।

वे महिलाएं जिन्होंने घर बनाया

पलक तिवारी का इंटरव्यू उस कमी के बारे में नहीं है जो उन्होंने महसूस की — बल्कि उस भरपूर उपस्थिति के बारे में है जिसका वह दावा करती हैं। एक बच्चा जो बिना पिता के बड़ा हुआ, उससे उदासी, लालसा या गुस्से की उम्मीद की जा सकती थी। पलक इनमें से कुछ भी नहीं दिखातीं।

“मुझे अपनी जिंदगी में कभी किसी चीज की कमी महसूस नहीं हुई,” उन्होंने कहा ।

—लेखक के बारे में: अभिनेता, लेखक और शिक्षाविद तनवीर ज़ैदी ने एक दर्जन से अधिक बॉलीवुड फिल्मों और अनेक टेलीविजन धारावाहिकों में मुख्य भूमिकाएँ निभाई हैं। उन्होंने कई उपन्यास और विभिन्न विषयों पर हजारों लेख लिखे हैं।