Archive · 27 Aug 2026
Kamya Punjabi Recalls Childhood Illness, Sacrifice and Family Responsibility
Kamya Punjabi said she was sick many times when she was a child.
Doctors later discovered that her food pipe was bent and that she needed surgery.
She stayed in the hospital for about a month and a half.
Her family did not have much money, so her mother sold her jewellery to pay for care.
Kamya remembered that her father cried beside her hospital bed.
When she grew older, Kamya began working and earned Rs 150 a day at exhibitions.
She gave money to her family to help pay for food and other needs.
She also helped her sisters study and supported her parents.
Later, a college fashion show helped her enter the entertainment industry and television.
Kamya Punjabi said recurring childhood illnesses were eventually linked to a bent food pipe requiring surgery.
She recalled spending about a month and a half at Wadia Hospital and seeing her father cry beside her bed.
Her mother sold jewellery, including her mangalsutra, bangles and earrings, to help pay for treatment.
After Class 12, Kamya worked at exhibitions for Rs 150 a day and gave much of her earnings to her family.
She later helped educate her sisters, supported their marriages and entered television after being noticed at a college fashion show.
- Who
- Television actor Kamya Punjabi, her parents and her sisters.
- What
- Kamya described childhood illnesses, her family’s medical and financial struggles, her early work and her path into television.
- When
- The experiences occurred during Kamya’s childhood and early working years; she discussed them in a recent conversation with Siddharth Kannan.
- Where
- She recalled treatment at Wadia Hospital, work at exhibitions and being noticed at an inter-college fashion show.
- Why
- Her family needed money for medical treatment and household expenses, leading to sacrifices by her mother and early employment by Kamya.
- Childhood diagnosis
- Kamya said doctors eventually found that her food pipe was bent and that she needed surgery.
- Hospital stay
- She recalled staying at Wadia Hospital for about a month and a half.
- Other childhood illness
- Kamya said she had contracted tuberculosis when awareness about the disease was limited, according to her.
- Mother’s sacrifice
- Her mother sold her mangalsutra, bangles, earrings and other jewellery to help fund treatment.
- Early earnings
- Kamya said she earned Rs 150 a day working at exhibition stalls after Class 12.
- Family responsibilities
- She said she helped educate her sisters, supported their marriages and continues to financially support her parents.
- Entertainment entry
- She was noticed by choreographer Ahmed Khan at an inter-college fashion show before moving from background dancing to television.
