Mental health matters: Deepika Padukone after Dwayne Johnson says he didn't know what depression was
Mumbai (PTI): Hindi cinema star Deepika Padukone has lent support to Dwayne Johnson following the Hollywood heavyweight's revelation that he struggled with depression during his university days.
Padukone, who was diagnosed with clinical depression in 2014, shared a snippet of Johnson's interview with The Pivot podcast on her Instagram Stories late Sunday night.
"Mental Health Matters," the "Pathaan" star captioned her post.
During the interview, Johnson recalled his first brush with depression at the University of Miami in Florida.
"The interesting thing at that time is, I just didn't know what it was... I didn't know what mental health was, I didn't know what depression was. I just knew I didn't wanna be there," the former professional wrestler had said in the conversation.
Johnson said he has "worked hard over the years to gain the emotional tools" for managing his mental health.
In 2015, Padukone set up Live, Love, Laugh Foundation to bring hope to those in India who are faced with stress, depression and anxiety.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
