Motherhood is best described as a roller coaster ride through social, personal, and emotional highs and lows. From the ecstasy of holding your baby for the first time to the depths of despair that come with the baby blues.

Within the Indian context, we have layers of imagined social propriety and cultural narratives that define the visceral reality of motherhood but rarely invoke a deeper understanding.

On the episode today we have Pooja Pande Author of Momspeak - the funny bittersweet story of motherhood in India. Also joining us is Swaati Chattopadhyay, a writer, dancer, and entrepreneur who contributed her own life-affirming experiences to the book.

Links:

Find us on Instagram:

Priya, Bakul, Gunjan, The Mommy Mix Tape

Swaati's Substack

As we form life-affirming connections with our kids the value of persistence and resilience grows. Each one of us is wired uniquely. For parents with kids who are on the spectrum, forming connections and coping mechanisms run parallel and this goes hand in hand with navigating life in a neuro-typical world.

Soumini Menon, a seasoned developmental psychologist and arts-based therapist. In our conversation we explore aspects of neurodiversity and the path for parents towards acceptance, advocacy and allyship in order to create positive role models for our kids.

Recommendations:

Out Of Sync Child - Carol Stock Kranowitz

The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida

Empathy, Education and Inclusion: A Guide to Real Friendship - Emma Liu

Neurodiversity, The New Normal - Cynthia Coupé

Reimagining Parenting In A Neurodiverse World - Allison Burgess

Much Much Spectrum, Instagram Profile

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Find us on Instagram: Priya, Bakul, Gunjan, The Mommy Mix Tape and Soumini Menon

Most of us seek to surround ourselves with people who wear their Authenticity with a certain ease. There is a decidedly transformative power in unabashedly unique women, those who have learnt to embrace all their idiosyncrasies and celebrate their wonderful worlds. None more so than our guest today- Natasha Badhwar- Her books My Daughters Mum and Immortal for a Moment are the perfect starting point for anyone looking to rejuvenate their life force.

Show Notes:

Natasha’s website: https://www.natashabadhwar.com/ and her social media handle: Instagram ,Twitter , Facebook and Substack.

Her books: Immortal for A Moment and My Daughter’s Mum.

Her recommendations: How Children Learn and How Children Fail

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Our Social Media handles, The Mommy Mix Tape, Priya, Bakul and Gunjan

People contain multitudes and we try constantly to strike the perfect balance. As mothers we are weaving together lives while grappling with all the loose ends.

Burnout is a multidimensional state given the relentless physical, mental ,and emotional demands that come along with raising a family. Most of us have experienced a diminished sense of well-being at some point or the other. This decreased effectiveness, often leads to us acting outside of our own philosophical orientation towards parenting.

The feeling of being burnt out is unique to individual context, yet universal in its prevalence.

One of my favourite authors wrote “ love yourself like you love your child”. I wonder if that could be a catalyst for each one of us to lighten the load.

For Most Indian Parents Schooling figures on top of the Parenting Pyramid. It’s the decision that sets the tone for what bulk of the childhood experience is going to be like.

Schools are a microcosm of the mindset of our society. The challenges brought by increased peer orientation is something that our parents never thought about.

How are parents supposed to navigate social structures and academic curriculums that have not really responded to the needs of children in the times we live in?

What is so great about our genetics or bloodlines? Do they make us who we are ?

Families are created by people committed to sharing a life together. The family we choose for ourselves in whatever form make our journeys richer.

As a change maker in her own right, this incredible mum filed a motion to ensure maternity benefits for adoptive mothers in India that is up for consideration in the Supreme Court.

On today’s episode we have a mum who along with her partner created one of the most idyllic families I have come in contact with. Their story is inspiring, encouraging and dispels the misconceptions that have plagued narratives around adoptions.

Show Notes:

. Families of Joy

. Central Adoption Resource Authority

. Sudatta

. Adoptive mother seeks equal maternity benefits

Guilt - There are very few emotions as resilient in the context of motherhood. It is for most of us all consuming, that niggle that stays with you no matter how hard you try to let it go. Self deprecatory for most of us the power of guilt is undeniable. What if we could flip the narrative on mommy guilt and look at it as a means of self reflection and give ourselves the permission to delve into the dark recesses of our minds where guilt begins to fester.

These are conversations we need to have with ourselves in order to mitigate the often crippling effects of guilt that seem to come free with motherhood.

Hosts: Priya Mathews / Bakul Dua / Gunjan Grover Gupta