A mum's letters

Ira and Maan were siblings and apple of their parent's eyes. Ira was 9 years and Maan was 7 years old. Today, they are going to their Nani's place as mummy needs to attend a conference in Delhi. So she will drop them at nani's place and pick them up on her way back. This is the first time when they would stay at nani's without mummy and that too for a good whole week.... Ira and Maan are so looking forward to spending their winter vacations at nani's place. Both the kids were too happy to be with their many many cousins. Days were filled with all sort of games and nights were peaceful.  But something was constantly bothering Ira. She was noticing that Nani always discriminates between girls and boys. No, it was not that she loved one child more or less than others but it was a subconscious thing. She will ask Ira to peel the peas and Maan was supposed to go out and bring things from nearby shop. Ira's duty was to help her aunts in serving food while Ma...

There was a fairy. No, not the one with long hair, floor length gowns or tiara on the head. But, a fairy....Like you and every other girl you know. She was a fairy because her parents named her Fairy and treated her like one. Fairy was a happy, helpful and jolly girl and her life was perfect. Perfect... until she started her new school and an ugly reality hit her hard. Her classmates started calling her names because she had braces in her teeth and pimples on her face. Fairy was dismayed because as far as she knew beauty had nothing to do with one's physical appearance. When Fairy's mother picked her up in the evening, she was sad and perplexed. She had many questions floating in her tiny head and tears in her eyes. Mumma understood that something was not right that day. When they got settled in the bed for their good night sleep. Mumma hugged her tight and asked the reason of her being so sad. "Kids in my school think that I am not beautiful." "Th...

Another new year is just another day.... Another day of you sleeping to the glory in the morning when I can't sleep And me watching and soaking in all your beauty and innocence. Another day of you achieving your toddler monster mission of taking this house down, And me slogging behind with my lazy mommy mind and tired mommy feet. Another day of you spitting that morsel loaded with ghee and made with all I knew, And me gobbling all the remaining food up ignoring my bulging tummy. Another day of you running around to fight my attempts to put some oil in your head, And me worrying that I didn't have the good hair genes to pass on to you. Another day of you looking at me with those petrified eyes when I try to bathe you, And me wondering if I am being hard on you if I wash that dirt ridden face of yours Another day of you sucking, biting and dangling from these mounds of flesh nurturing you, And me chalking out a strategy to wean you and failing at it every singl...

Dear baby, Today, I had a little argument with your mausi. She was asking me to buy you new clothes for Diwali. I was saying that we still have 4-5 new dresses and those are perfect for Diwali. She was not convinced. Then your nani also lectured me some for not buying new clothes for Diwali. I tried to tell them that in past people did not have the luxury of buying new clothes every other month, infact, going to the markets was a luxury in itself. So they used to wait for festivals to go to the market and splurge on shopping. The rarity of this was a charm in itself to mark the beginning of the festivities. But.. today, we go outside every other day. Malls are a place to hang out and if you see something CUTE for the kids, the temptation is too hard to resist. Even if you don't go outside then online shopping is there. Hardly goes a month or two when I am not buying some dress or some toys as you are outgrowing your stuff so quickly. Then why all this halla gulla about Diwali ...

You don't know her. You see her first and may be the last time, that too for a few seconds. And YOU JUDGE because she is wearing shorts. She is wearing shorts despite being so fat. Though you have no idea that obesity may also be due to some illness and you really don't care. You just DECIDED that she is not dressed appropriately. Then some other day, some other place you see someone else. She is wearing a polyester saree, her head is covered with her pallu, orange sindoor in her hair parting, bright red bangles and she is trying to get over her fear of escalators and may be of her newly worn high heels too. You turn again and again to look at her, to check what is she doing, to ridicule her silliness of being afraid of a mere escalator. You mutter something about that dehati lady to your friend and you two have a good laugh. Now... You are wearing your favorite denim pants with a tank top or may be a full sleeved shirt. You got some looks from someone else. You KNOW wha...

A few more days and the life will never remain same.. I shall be a mommy in a few days. And now a days I relate everything with children and their upbringing. #womeninme keeps making promises to the little fluttering creature in my tummy. So baby, here I am...I want to promise you that you will never be forced to do things as per others' or set society standards. You need not to learn cooking... You need not to study engineering... Just to satiate our desires but only if your heart asks you to do so.  If you are a boy, i shall not teach you that crying is a sign of weak (or girls). Because those who know, accept and express their feelings are stronger than those who pretend, manipulate or suppress their emotions. If you are a girl, I shall never let you ask for favours for being a girl but to treat yourself equal to your peers before you expect them to treat you equally.I f you are a boy, I shall never be ashamed of you for cooking or doing any of the household ...

As I am writing this, a little girl of 12 days is lying beside me. She is too tiny to hold properly yet she has turned my world upside down. I have forgotten what a peaceful sleep means and how would it feel like going outside on my own...alone. I just can't believe that I am feeling so. Having a baby was my long time dream. I have thought of names for my daughter when I myself was in school. After only an year of marriage, I have started pestering my husband to start a family (now I silently thank him for knowing that you are NEVER prepared for a tiny tot to join you) It's not that I was not aware of the changes that a baby will bring in our world but still I feel as if I have been cheated. I knew that a child would bring sleepless nights, I just did not have any idea about cluster feeding. I knew that a kid would depend on me for filling his tummy, I just did not know about sore nipples. I knew that I would be stucked in a room for 40 days of confinement period (a...