‘My First Priority is my Family’
“As a mother you get to relive your past. You see your childhood through your children,” says Poornima Indrajith, anchor and TV host. She believes that parents should be the right idols for kids as children adopt your ways and lifestyle. That is the best way to teach them good, as no child likes to be forced. Poornima thinks that being celebrity kids denies them the time they spend outdoors.” As a child, I used to spend a play outdoors a lot, but my kids can’t do the same.” When asked how she manages work and family, she has a very well thought-out answer. “Women play a very important role in the family. I am game for work, but my first priority is always my family and kids.” But Poornima thinks it is a major task being a celebrity mother. It is all about raising the children with the realisation that they are celebrity kids and then teaching them to cope with it. “Every individual enjoys attention, but what matters is how well you cope with that attention,” she says.
‘Amma is My Elder Sister...’
TV anchor Rekha Menon cannot stop talking about Avaan, her son, who is as unique as his name. ‘Avaan’ means the lord of the earth. “He bosses me a lot. He questions me about the clothes I wear, about my lipstick and about almost everything,” Rekha laughs. This young mother, one of the most successful talk show anchors in Malayalam, wants her kid to grow up the way she did, as an independent child. “I want to be a friend to my son.
I don’t believe in a strict mother-son relationship,” she says. Rekha is quite happy that her son understands her work. He is fine with her working hours and her occasional TV appearances.” He enjoys it when some reference is made about him in the program and that keeps him glued to the television,” Rekha adds. “But he creates a fuss when I am not with him during his allotted time, especially Sundays. He has certain rules of his own. And me and Ajith never dare to break them,” there is laughter in Rekha’s voice when she says this. “But it does feel bad occasionally, when I miss important events in his life. Like when I missed his birthday once. But he is very understanding,” she adds. Rekha doesn’t believe that you start loving your child the moment he is born. “It happens over the years. And my child is my youngest friend.” That, Rekha feels, is the best thing about being a mother.
‘She is a Perfect Daughter’
For Kalpana, the most vibrant and humorous actress in the Malayalam film industry, the best thing about being a mother is “the very feeling of seeing your child growing up in front of you.” But at the same time, Kalpana feels that her 11-year-old daughter Sreemayi has nothing to learn from her, instead she has taught her a lot of things in her 11 years as mother. Says Kalpana proudly “My daughter is very composed and mature unlike me, and most of the time she bosses me around! She is my best critic and my best pal.”
Sreemayi has a lot of complaints about Kalpana’s busy schedule, about how little time she finds to play the role of mother, but still understands and adjusts a lot, as she is aware of her mother’s responsibilities. “She likes my sense of humour. She rolls on the floor and laughs at my jokes. She is the one from whom I can expect honest opinions about my work,” says Kalpana. “I am a failure as a mother. Most of the time, I feel like she is my mother,” Kalpana winds up with perhaps a statement that only a very lucky mother can make “She is the perfect daughter!”
What you instantly notice as you speak to these mothers is the joy in their voices when they talk about their kids. We wish them, and all mothers around us a Happy Mother’s Day!!