From animals to arc-lights

A page from the personal diary of Harsha Khandeparkar I had always been a bright student. No one even remotely thought I would become an actor. I completed my HSC and took up Marine Biology at Fergusson College, Pune, which is one of the five top science colleges in India. I was a hard working student and completely a book worm. I rarely bothered about fashion and style. I was in my third year when one day I just thought of trying my luck at acting. God alone knows what happened to me and I immediately packed my bags to come to Mumbai. My parents too were very confused about my decision and they thought it was just a passing phase. I landed in Mumbai and went for auditions of Jeeya Jale for 9x. I did not get a good response and I went back with my shattered dreams to Goa. Soon after, I got a call from the channel, asking me to meet them. I was overjoyed and when I went to meet them, I was informed I was selected as a lead for their new show Neelanjana. As a child, I had seen Mrinal Kulkarni acting but I never imagined I will get a chance to share screen space with her. Soon there were a lot of hoardings all over Mumbai and the one at Juhu circle was mind-blowing. I called my parents from Goa to see all the hoardings with me in the city and they were very happy. They were proud of me. My friends could not believe I was doing a TV show. I never imagined a student who was studying to become a biologist will ever become an actor and here I am now.