I
Went
To
A
Speech
Therapist
To
Change
My
Voice
"I
was
told
these
things
in
my
school,
by
my
teachers.
They
are
all
stuck
in
boxes.
You
are
meant
to
be
in
a
certain
way.
I
have
been
tormented
to
a
point
where
I
went
to
a
speech
therapist
to
change
my
voice,
to
bring
a
baritone," the
director
said.
Karan
was
in
conversation
with
journalist
Barkha
Dutt
at
We
The
Women
event.
Everybody
Said
That
I
Sound
Like
A
Girl
The
"Ae
Dil
Hai
Mushkil"
director
said
he
was
a
15-year-old
boy
when
he
went
to
the
speech
therapist
as
he
was
in
that
"awkward
age"
and
his
voice
was
"squeaky".
"Everybody
would
say,
'You
sound
like
a
girl.' I
heard
that
like
a
million
times
and
I
told
the
therapist,
'Can
you
make
me
sound
like
a
boy?'
It
was
not
fun.
I
did
it
for
three
years.
This
gentleman
gave
me
voice
exercises.
It
was
embarrassing
and
torturous."
If
I
Was
Sounding
A
Certain
Way,
So
Be
It!
"I
used
to
tell
my
father
that
I
was
going
to
a
tuition
class
because
I
did
not
want
to
say
I
was
going
to
'become
a
man.'
I
should
not
have
been
put
through
that.
If
I
was
sounding
a
certain
way,
it
should
have
been
okay," he
added.
Karan
recalled
how
his
parents
never
thought
he
was
doing
anything
wrong
when
he
used
to
imitate
steps
of
female
actors
while
dancing,
but
was
laughed
upon
by
others.
I
Used
To
Dance
Like
How
Jaya
Pradha
Was
Dancing
"I
went
and
saw
'Sargam' as
an
8-year-old
and
became
obsessed
with
the
song
'Dafli
Waale'.
I
would
play
the
song
at
home
and
do
Jaya
Pradha's
steps
and
not
Rishi
Kapoor's.
My
father
used
to
ask
me
to
perform
and
I
used
to
dance
like
Jaya
Pradha
was
dancing
and
he
somehow
never
found
it
strange."
All
The
Kids
Outside
My
Compound
Made
Fun
Of
Me
"No
one
said
I
was
doing
something
wrong.
But
when
I
went
down
to
the
compound
of
my
building
or
met
seniors
at
school,
all
the
kids
who
were
not
from
your
domain
would
make
fun
of
you.
That's
when
I
started
developing
an
aversion
to
the
word
pansy...
It
scarred
me," he
added.
The
director
says
it
reached
a
point
where
he
stopped
taking
part
in
sports
at
school
as
every
time
he
ran
or
even
walked,
kids
used
to
mock
him.
"My
hand
and
feet
would
move
very
differently
from
other
boys.
I
would
run
funny
and
I
stopped
taking
part
in
any
sport
as
a
result
of
it.
Because
every
time
I
ran,
everybody
would
laugh.
Every
time
I
spoke,
people
laughed
as
I
had
a
squeaky
voice."
"I
thought
my
parents
were
absolutely
cool.
My
father
was
as
Punjabi
as
it
can
get.
But
he
never
thought
I
was
doing
something
unusual
or
different
but
it
did
make
a
deep
impact
on
me
as
I
thought
I
was
different
and
I
was
told
I
was
different,"
he
added.
(PTI
News)