Gul Panag reveals she gave birth to baby boy Nihal six months ago

Former Miss India Gul Panag hasn’t acted in any film in years, but has an active following on social media due to her stint in politics (she came in third as the Aam Aadmi Party candidate in Chandigarh in 2014) and social activism.

The fitness enthusiast, who is regularly in the limelight, made a startling revelation to Mumbai Mirror, a tabloid, today. Panag shared that she and her husband, Rishi Attari, welcomed their son, Nihal, six months ago. The couple, who married in March 2011, decided not to share the news with the world and kept the news with themselves until they were ready to announce it.

“Becoming parents is a special experience and we decided that we’d like to go through it without the distraction of public attention. Family and close friends knew about Nihal but we refrained from posting anything on the social media. He is almost six months old and it has been a roller coaster ride!” Panag said.

Panag and Attari chose the name Nihal, which means “joy, success and victory that comes with the blessings of God.” It was a name that resonated with them, the actress said.

Panag regularly posts her photographs on Instagram. Often they are photos of her at the gym or doing yoga. The news of her motherhood will probably come as a surprise to many of her fans.

“Nihal was born prematurely so I didn’t put on too much weight. Even through the pregnancy, I took care to eat healthy and have always been very active, so it was easy to get back to my workouts and shed the extra kilos,” the 39-year-old told Mumbai Mirror.

Her advice to women becoming mothers in their 30s is, "Have children when you are ready to welcome them and can raise them happily and responsibly, not when society says you must."

Panag's last Hindi film was in 2015 with the sequel Ab Tak Chhappan 2 while her last film role was in the Punjabi film Ambarsariya (2016) starring Diljit Dosanjh.