The idea of parenting can be a daunting prospect in the best of times, and most of us might be all at sea when faced with the idea of raising a child. But there are dos and don’ts that help us navigate the journey of being a mother or a father, ensuring that our offspring have the sort of childhood that they can smile about in retrospect. Some of these guidelines feature in a podcast called Raising Parents, launching this week. Mansi Zaveri, founder of parenting platform Kidstoppress, is hosting it, and her guests include comedian Sorabh Pant, who has a four-year-old son, and actor Sameera Reddy, who talks about dealing with postpartum and the importance of inculcating the virtue of honesty in the children you bring into this world.
Mansi and husband Nakul are parents to Anya and Akshata. She tells us that there is no right or wrong when it comes to making a decision about having a child. It’s a wholly personal choice. Zaveri says, “It’s not like baking a cake where there’s a perfect recipe that you can follow. You know, I have interviewed guests who didn’t want to have a kid till a certain age but for me, being a mother meant the realisation that this is the most pure and unconditional form of love that anyone can experience. The world out there is of course a scary place, and it’s a bigger challenge in these times. But what being a parent makes you understand is that there is love, hope and compassion.
Mansi Zaveri with her daughters
I mean today, I am cocooned in my house, but I am cocooned with people who matter to me. And you need to figure out who those people are who matter to you.”
She adds that in order to reach that clarity, a woman must gauge the level of her maternal instinct. Zaveri says that one of the guests on her show, media professional Tanya Chaitanya, talks about being unapologetically ambitious and the least bit interested in giving birth. Her mother wanted a child. So did her husband. But Chaitanya didn’t want one herself. “But she told me that now that she has a daughter, she asks herself how it is that she would think the way she did earlier. So, people’s perspectives change. And I also believe that there are external validations that we get through so many multiple sources — and there are so many dreams and aspirations that we have — that we often believe that a child will tie us down. But those thoughts didn’t really matter to me because the way I look at life is through relationships, since that’s what continues,” Zaveri says.
Comedian Sorabh Pant appears as a guest on the show
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