It’s been a year since Isha Koppikar started afresh with her daughter, Rianna, following her divorce from businessman Timmy Narang last November. After 14 years of marriage, Isha moved out of the Narang House in Pali Hill, which marked a challenging phase in her life. In an interview with Bombay Times, she talks about new beginnings and moving on with a positive outlook.

Talking about the emotions she went through at the beginning of this phase, Isha says, “There was a lot of fear because I didn’t know how I would restart. I was moving out with my daughter Rianna (10 years old). She has grown up in a certain environment, and I wanted to give her something that would be conducive to her growth. After all, from the time she was born, she lived in a huge home with all the amenities. I didn’t know how to restart, but I had faith in the supreme power. Rianna and I are extremely positive people, and hereon, I know it will only get better.”

Isha’s biggest challenge was to explain to her daughter why they were moving out of the house, but it all went smoothly. And for the 10-year-old, it was just the change of address as the ex-couple is co-parenting her. The actress shares, “I bought this place close to the Narang House because her father and cousins live there. Rianna loves her new house. Timmy comes here regularly to spend time with her. We may have moved on as husband and wife, but we are together as parents for our daughter, and that will never change. Timmy and I are more like friends now. I think relationships improve when you do not expect anything from each other.”

Ask Isha why Timmy and she decided to part ways, and she says, “I really cannot pinpoint what went wrong… we just kind of drifted apart. It was his decision, he said, ‘This is not working out’. And I said, ‘Okay, fine’. Then, we just parted ways. Only mature people can take decisions like these. It is easy to make each other’s life miserable by just hanging in there. It’s tough to move on and take separate paths, but we did what we thought was good for our growth. I believe in live and let live. So, I felt that somewhere, if he wanted to move on, I should step back. If I were in his place, I would have expected the same.”

Isha says that she had certain questions and wanted clarity before calling it quits. “It was easy for me not to give him a divorce, but that would go against my values. We separated amicably. It was very tough for me. I wanted some answers, which I got from the universe. I’m very spiritual. What’s the point of being together and then bickering and fighting constantly? After all, when something stagnates, it stinks… even water. I think life is about flowing freely,” she shares.

What bothered Isha during the phase was when Timmy announced their divorce at a time when she wasn’t ready for it. She was worried about how Rianna would react to it. “It was irresponsible of him because I wanted Rianna to accept it slowly. I wanted to bring it up with her in a different way, but before that, he spoke about it. He later agreed that it was a blunder and apologised for it,” she says.

Isha is now focusing on her work. The actress, who has acted in a few web shows in recent times, says, “Right now, I am only thinking about work. I am back in the game. I have been out there meeting people. For a long time, people didn’t even know that I wanted to work because, unfortunately, in this industry, they think the minute you are married to an industrialist, you don’t want to work. So now, I’m actually going to offices and meeting directors, and I’m getting a fabulous response. I am focused and I will work hard.”