Known for her unconventional choices as an actor, Kalki Koechlin has a way of making each character and their quirks her own. Despite her passion towards the craft, she hasn’t allowed it to alienate her from day-to-day life. Having a healthy work-life balance is a priority for the actress, who now lives in Goa with her daughter Sappho and partner Guy Hershberg. Kalki frequently visits Mumbai for work and during one such visit, tells us what it’s like to be a mother, her shift to Goa and why environmental conservation is no longer a matter of choice. Excerpts...

The primary reason was having a child and realizing that we don’t have a park around for kids to play. That outdoor space was missing. It’s hard to find spaces for children in cities unless you go to a shopping mall. I wanted my daughter (Sappho) to have more exposure to nature instead of pollution.

I acknowledge the fact that we are privileged enough to have both lifestyles. I can come and work in Mumbai but still live in Goa. This shift has done a lot of good for us adults as well.

She’s a fun kid. She speaks four languages – Hebrew, Hindi, French and English – and she chats comfortably in all four. It’s so entertaining. Every day, I want to frame at least one of her sentences and put it up on the wall. She comes up with such unique lines. When you multitask, you tend to miss out on things. Motherhood has taught me to be more organized. It has taught me to use an Excel spreadsheet. I have learnt that if you want something in life, you need to seek it in advance and list it down. Planning has now become a huge part of my life. I jot down things and months when I want to be at home, and when I will be at work.

I do think that I have learnt patience through motherhood. I have understood that certain things do take time, like even getting your body back to normal after giving birth. The concept of quickly returning to your old self is not there. You must let your body take its own sweet time to heal. I have more patience today, but my life is way more hectic.

I live in a very quiet jungle sort of area in North Goa near Colvale. It’s away from the hustle and bustle of tourist attractions. We have a big garden comprising papaya, tomato and lemon trees, passion fruit and basil plants. It shows our kid where our food actually comes from, and that it doesn’t magically appear in the supermarket. I want her to know that. Our food is sourced from local farmers, so we eat mostly what is in season.

This was also my attempt to go green. We have a big compost area at the back of the garden. All the cleaning products in my house, be it laundry cleaner or dishwasher are non-chemical and not harmful to the environment. I have switched to everything herbal.

I had gone on a girls’ trip to Israel. He went to a music school with one of my friends and so he was one of our contacts when we went there. That’s how we met. We both are extremely resilient. He is like a cactus that can survive in a desert. He still works a lot in Israel, so he is also on the road a lot. He enjoys being in Goa as it is calm and beautiful. I don’t think he was a fan of Mumbai. Since he is a musician, he can work from home when he’s composing. The piano is our background in life. We wake up to Bach’s music for breakfast. I can’t play the piano at all, he does.

When I am unhappy or when I see things not going according to my instinct, I have a big knot in my stomach that I can’t ignore. I have to act upon it. It’s visceral. I have to feel healthy inside out to function as a person. I don’t think money and career are everything. Life is meant to learn. When you don’t learn you stagnate. My work pace has slowed down a bit since I now have a daughter and we live in Goa. It’s a choice I have made. I don’t want to be as busy as I used to be. I want to strike a healthy work-life balance. I am doing a lot of writing, theatre, and other performances that keep me active and satiate my creative needs. It’s important for me to be creative in some form or the other. This all happens from Goa, and I come over to Mumbai whenever I have shoots. Goldfish with Deepti Naval should release soon and Kho Gaye Hum Kahan will see me in a romantic relationship with Siddhant Chaturvedi.