This Sassy Saasu inspires with her spirited Instagram account which gives us an inside peak into her life and relationships. Cutting through societal and ageist stereotypes, artist, and social media influencer Manjri Varde embraces life one day at a time.
Known for being the sassiest sassu on the World Wide Web, Varde and her daughter-in-law, actor Sameera Reddy together make fun reels breaking the typecast that a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law always have a problematic relationship. Talking about her foray into social media Varde shared, “I was fairly active on Facebook with my paintings and creative activities. When Instagram started my daughter signed me up for it. I created content around my personal activities. Then came the pandemic and my daughter-in-law suggested she shoot a few fun videos with me. I happily agreed. And the rest is history!”
With over 140k followers, the 68-year-old never thinks of age as a challenge and believes that embracing it gracefully is the only option. Varde inspires women to live healthier, happier, independent and financially secure lives. As a single mom, her art is what made her financially independent and helped her raise two kids. She was thirty-five years old when her painting was first showcased at an exhibition. “I was creative as a child. My father was very creative also. So when I asked to study art in college he readily agreed as opposed to science. I did Applied Art and absolutely enjoyed myself. After which I got married and had two lovely children. But in my mid-30s I restarted and am going strong and learning and painting and writing calligraphy with great joy!”
Varde has never pitied herself, making the most of life is what she does, “Power is not a word I associate with in any measure. Freedom on the other hand, is what we are all born with. We only have to find its path and be brave enough to walk on it. We. Are. All. Born. Free! (Financial independence helps…).”
Her attitude towards life did face some backlash when her page started gaining popularity, “I did find a few comments that were odd and I was not used to ageist and conservative comments. Again my daughter-in-law stepped in and taught me how to simply ignore and block trolls. That’s what I do.” Varde truly believes that that each day that we choose to live our lives with love is an achievement. “Falling in love, having kids, raising them, growing as a person, learning through your ups and downs, finding courage daily and being present and available for my family is my biggest achievement.”
It’s been over 30 years since Varde restarted her life as an artist and only three since she started creating content but this is the happiest she has ever been. “2022 has again been a fortunate year for me. I won the ‘Pride of Goa’ award. Made some fabulous videos with my daughter-in-law that went viral, painted and sold some of my favourite artworks and found a wonderful community in Goa.” She further added, “I have young girls coming up to me saying, ‘You’re so beautiful! I love your content I find women who walk up to me very brave and inspiring as they find words to appreciate me. I doubt I could do that to anyone.”
“Love, patience, understanding, empathy, allowances and kindness, I am richer for all of these which come with blossoming age and profound experiences!” Addressing women who are reinventing themselves post forty she said, “Say Yes!!! We are scared and feel insecure when life brings changes. At forty we are so programmed to be completely secure that we are afraid to take a brand new path. I did. I said yes to whatever was being offered to me. COVID changed lives and lifestyles. Social media changed so much around the world. Connections happen globally now. It’s a wonderful world of fabulous opportunities! Let’s all be open and kind and manifest creativity and joy!”