New Delhi: 'There is more than one type of mother', some golden words by Maggie Smith in the period drama - Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey. These are some words that give much relief to today's mothers, who in a bid to be a 'good mother' forget their own identity and dedicate lives to their children.
Author Shunali Khullar Shroff explores the roller-coaster ride of motherhood through her book 'Battle Hymn Of A Bewildered Mother'. She reveals the realities of being a hands-on parent in today's ultramodern and chaotic environment.
This book not only readies you for the adventurous ride of parenting, but also gives you many opportunities to stretch your facial muscles in amusement, despair and amazement. Shunali along with giving a mother's perspective in the book also shares her girls' opinions in the book (which actually gives you a way to peek into today's children's minds).
Ex-journalist and the owner of a successful PR firm, Shunali gave up her career to give her children a normal childhood. She narrates her story from expecting her first child to deciding on having another till the elder one reaches to the threshold stage of adolescence.
Here are a few excerpts from 'Battle Hymn Of A Bewildered Mother' that will give you a preview of what's there in the book:
Chapter 4: Lady Gaga's Child
I am all for self-expression, but watching my own child board a day flight in her night shirt, Vegas-style sunglasses and plastic Barbie sandals with heels, was not something I Could bring myself to say yes to.
This wasn't the first time I had witnessed my younger child's eccentric sense of style, as she does have a penchant for peculiar dressing. Mismatched leggings under frilly frocks teamed with a sequined jacket from my closet, a heap of neck and a scarf over her head… She is like Audery Hepburn gone very wrong….
When I politely informed her that she would have to change into something more sober, she stormed out of the room, flung herself on her bed and started to sob bitterly and very audibly. 'I hate you, I hate you, I will never, ever, ever talk to you,' she informed me through her sobs.
Chapter 12: The Stockholm Syndrome
On one of my trips to Madrid, the younger child wanted to be let loose at the airport, just so she could run about like an unbridled horse. When I belted her up into her pram, she began to have a tantrum so loud that the ATR's office complained it was interfering with flight take offs and landings. 'I hate my sister, I hate my mother, I hate my whole family somebody help me,' she wailed loudly and constantly.
This was excruciatingly embarrassing because the entire airport was staring at us, and I must have seemed like Cruella De Vil for having made a four-year-old cherub with luscious cheeks bawl so. I wanted the earth to split open and swallow us into its bowels even as Z, being the older one, giggled at the new drama her kid sister was enacting.
These were one of those parts from the book that will not only make you laugh at the helplessness of the author but will also make you sympathize with her.
You can expect more such hilarious and enlightening chapters from the book!
