In less than a month, actor Sonnalli A Sajnani will welcome her first child with husband, hotelier Ashesh Sajnani. Calling the pregnancy journey “super smooth with literally no complaints whatsoever”, it suddenly hit her that “there’s going to be an entirely different human being” in the family!

She tells us, “I was scrolling through my gallery to show my friend a picture and a photo from my last scan came up. It just hit me: that’s my baby’s face! As an outsider, I would think, ‘Yeah, I’m sure it’s great,’ but when you feel it, there are no words to describe it.”

Feeling “extremely confident” about the birthing process, Sonnalli is “not scared” and “actually quite excited”. “I’m focused on setting up the nursery, keeping comfort as the top priority,” the 35-year-old shares, adding, “You have to feel happy, even if things don’t go the way you want to. I want to enjoy every moment, surrounding myself with positive vibes and people.”

The actor, who featured in JNU: Jahangir National University and Jo Tera Hai Woh Mera Hai this year, adds that her husband has been “incredible”: “We’re having fun together, sending each other funny kid reels.”

But the one thing that drives him “a little crazy” is a guessing game about the gender of their baby. “Towards the end, people are making predictions based on the shape of my belly... One day they say it’s a boy, and the next, it’s a girl. I find it fun, even if it gets a bit overwhelming. But it’s cute how random people try to predict (the gender) when I step out,” she ends.

This Karwa Chauth is “even more special” for actor Sonnalli A Sajnani and her businessman husband Ashesh Sajnani, as the arrival of their first baby is just a month away. While Sonnalli admits that fasting can be challenging for her, given her pregnancy, she reflects fondly on her experience last year, when observing her first Karwa Chauth fast “felt like a personal achievement”.

Ask her how she is planning to celebrate the festival today and the 35-year-old says, “Ashesh thinks I should not fast, but I’ll do it in some way. Maybe I will eat a lot for sargi and do a phal aahaar fasting where I will have only fruits or stick to sweets and juices.”

When asked if Ashesh will fast alongside her, she responds with a laugh, “He can’t fast”, adding, “More than that, I know a lot of men also do it to support their wives, which is sweet, but I’m too traditional. For me, it’s traditionally done by women. So, I never expected or wanted him to (fast). Even last year, he told me not to fast, but I wanted to. He’s not going to fast for me, that’s for sure.”

Sonnalli says that she loves the traditional aspects of the festival: “I love to wear red on Karwa Chauth. Also, I love to wear sindoor. I feel happy and special when I wear it. I make it a point to wear traditional attire and my mangalsutra.”

This year, she will opt for light fabrics in the evening. “Comfort is essential for me now, so I want something with cotton lining,” she explains.