It is a rather quiet Saturday afternoon, with a bunch of paps waiting outside a quaint cafe located on the streets of Bandra. The reason behind their eager wait is actress and model Nataša Stanković, who is sitting with us for a chat. Nataša has been away from movies or any work for the last five years, after her marriage to her ex-husband - Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya. Breaking her five-year silence, she sits down for an interview. While she politely refuses to discuss the separation with Hardik, she opens up about returning to work and being a mother.

Ask Nataša, who was a contestant in Bigg Boss 8 and Nach Baliye 9 how she has been lately, and pat comes the response, "I've been great. God has been kind. Things are slowly happening. People didn't know that I am open to work. I was not so much out there for the people who actually know that I'm open to get back to work."

One of the reasons behind people's assumption that the Flesh actress is not open to work is due to the perception that she is moving back to Serbia with her son Agastya. Nataša sets the record straight, dismissing conjectures that she's leaving India, contrary to widespread speculation. The rumors started after Nataša's airport sighting with Agastya, followed by her divorce announcement, leading many to believe she was leaving India for good.

“There's a talk in the city that I'm going back. (But) How would I go back? I have a child. The child goes to school here. There is no chance... That won't happen. The child needs to be here. He belongs here. The family is here at the end of the day. We (Hardik and I) are still a family. We have a child, and the child will always make us a family at the end of the day. I haven’t done that anyway because Agastya needs to stay with both parents. It’s been 10 years and I go every year at the same time back in Serbia,” she says. Ask her if Hardik and she are co-parenting and she affirms, “Yes, we are.”

The image of Nataša and Agastya walking together at the airport from earlier July is a stark reminder that while a lot was going on in her life, the model's priority was the joy of her son. “For me Agastya is everything,” she declares adding, “A mother will be there for you always, no matter what you do. A mother will always stand next to you. Sometimes we can't explain it. Even with whatever is going on in life, I believe that there are no bad people. It's just the souls that are lost in one way or another. I feel I didn't know my worth at a certain point in time – I would be quiet in certain situations, I wouldn't say much, I would maybe come across as – I don't care. But I've learned to love myself with Agastya, by being with him. I understood that for the child to be happy, he needs me – as a mother – to be happy and mentally healthy. So, there was no way for me to fall down. I just had to stand and be like - Nobody can touch me, nobody can touch him. No matter what someone says, the moment, you know your worth, you know who you are, and you know that your heart is clean, nobody can shake you. I've reached that point."

As she mentions being mentally healthy, enquire her about keeping her sanity amid all the personal turmoil and she clarifies, “It's not that my mental health was not really in place. But I really needed to work. I feel that a mother needs to be happy for a child to be happy. That was one of the reasons I decided to get back to work. I missed that I didn't do anything for the last five years. I have no regrets in life because I have my child, and I have given the time to him. I just feel I could have. As a woman and as someone who has worked before and for my mental health, I think that (working) would have been much better. Of course, having a child is the best thing that happens to every mother and father."

She adds, "The love you get from a child is unconditional. There is no love that you can get as a child's love. I've grown with him for these four years. He's teaching me life now. He taught me how to care, how to enjoy the small things, the things that actually matter in life, how to sit back and just enjoy every second, and be thankful."

While Nataša doesn’t wish to talk about her equation with her estranged partner, she admits she likes “to be private” about her life. “Not because there is something to hide but I believe that private life should be private,” she adds.

There may be a barrage of judgements against Nataša, but she is unperturbed. “At this point and always it's people who don't know me. I don't say anything and I used to never say even before. People can only assume. It can't bother me. I am okay with people assuming, let them assume. I cannot expect people to like me or be on my side. If I want to make everybody happy, I'll just go sell ice cream maybe," she confesses.

She goes on to add, "I just want to live a simple life, with work. I know that the profession that I've chosen you are somewhere in the spotlight. People’s assumption doesn't affect me. I am at peace with myself. I'm at peace with people assuming about me. I know how much I have done in life, where I come from and nothing can shake me. Nobody can shake me."

As the conversation comes towards the conclusion, Nataša admits she has “had certain challenges at a certain point of time”. Ask her if she would ever open up about the challenging times and she says, “Maybe if I write a book.”