Koena Mitra on why she thanks her first boyfriend for dumping her...

I was studying psychology honours in my first year of college in Calcutta . My first boyfriend, who was also my first crush, told me: “I am going to Germany for further studies. Since long-distance relationships do not work, I am dumping you.” Have you heard of a more feeble excuse? But I was like “Oh… ok.”

Though I said, ‘Ok’ at that time, the truth is, I was heartbroken. That moment changed my life completely because if that break-up with my first boyfriend had not happened, I would still have been a Calcutta girl.

Never in my wildest imagination did I think that I would leave Calcutta, go to an unknown place, start a career and become a new person altogether. The break-up was a turning point in my life.

As a child, you have so many dreams but you don’t expect them to come true. While growing up, I had always dreamed of becoming an actor but I never knew it would come true. I hadn’t worked towards it either. People used to say ‘You dance very well, you have all the qualities to become an actress’. I used to feel nice getting all these compliments but I never took them so seriously

But when my first break-up happened, I thought: “Let me leave Calcutta; let me just get out of the city.” It was a very big move. I decided to take part in the Gladrags contest although my ultimate dream was not to get into modelling, but to get into films. I feel it’s difficult to win a title and be a beauty queen; but once you are a title holder, it becomes very easy for you to get into the movies. You start getting offers and you do not need to chase people.

I took part in the Gladrags contest and, to my good fortune, I won it. My life changed completely after that. It was such a learning experience for me. My entire personality as well as my looks were transformed. From a simple college girl, I grew into a much more mature and confident person.

After winning the contest, I decided to come to Bombay. I had no relatives there. I just knew about Linking Road, the shopping area in Bandra. So I asked my dad to give me Rs 60,000 as a loan. I told him that I would return the money as soon as I got my Gladrags prize money, which was Rs 5 lakh. I thought it would be more than enough to survive in Bombay. So he gave me the money. Poor thing, even he did not have any idea that Rs 60,000 is nothing in Bombay!

I took a flight to Bombay and from the airport I took a cab to Linking Road, Bandra. During the contest, we were not allowed to go out, party and all that. So, I hardly knew Bombay but I had made a couple of friends during that time. I called one of them and asked her if I could stay with her for a day or two while I looked for a broker and a paying guest accommodation. She and her family were kind enough to let me in. I stayed with them for two days and then I shifted to the PG.

That was the first time I started living on my own and the first taste of freedom for me.

Till today, I thank my first boyfriend for dumping me (laughs). If that break-up had not happened, I would have never stepped out of Calcutta and pursued my dream of becoming an actress. I am too much of a Bengali at heart. I always thought I would probably become a psychiatrist, have my own clinic, get married, have children and live happily ever after (laughs).

I have met my boyfriend after that. He is married now. It was more like puppy love for us. We were both very young, just 19 years old at that time. So, no regrets.

As told to Mauli Singh (Bollywood News Service)