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Miss India 2018 Anukeerthy Vas, raised by a single mother, yet again bears testimony to the fact that single mothers are raising strong, independent children despite adversities.
One of things that drove and inspired Anukeerthy Vas in her journey that lead to her successfully becoming the 55th Femina Miss India ,was her mother.
Raising a child is no cakewalk, especially for a single parent. It’s comparatively more harder for a women living in a patriarchal society like India. Then, there’s the case of single mothers, many a times abandoned because of giving birth to daughters. But stop! Don’t pity them; they are excellent parents who’ve nurtured and shaped successful children.
These women have deconstructed taboos around single mothers and proved that they can achieve anything and enable and equip their daughters to do the same.
Taking on the role of two parents these women have instilled values, grit and resilience, that incline their children in achieving whatever they want. They have taught the virtues of hard work and love by example. They have worked hard both at work and home to provide for their children. They have not allowed their weakest moments to define them and taught their daughters to learn and grow from adversities.
Be it Seelena Vas, mother of Anukeerthy Vas who has brought up her daughter as a single parent from when Anukeerthy was four years old and her father went missing; or Neera Chopra, mother of former Miss India and actress Pooja Chopra, who raised her two daughters after she left her husband who did not accept another girl child, these women have braved the world and shown that they can make all dreams come true.
These are only two examples out of the thousands of single mothers and daughters who are constantly striving for a better life.
In many cases, women are left to raise their daughters alone as they are shunned because they gave birth to a girl child. Well, it’s a patriarchal society and having a girl child equals to collecting huge sums of dowry. Our society hates a female child so much so that there has been acquired genocide, female foeticide for decades. Now, that it’s been made illegal, we indulge in female infanticide. India has one of the highest rates of female infanticide in the world.
Thousands of mothers are asked to kill their new born girl child only because of her sex, failing which she is abandoned. Even though science has developed so much and it is a known fact that woman is not responsible for determining the sex of the child, society still blames her- a baseless, inhumane blame at that.
Owing to this mindset, women are not educated enough, not given proper jobs, denied equal pay and many more such things that makes the life of a single mother next to impossible. Divorced women or unmarried women many a times loose support of their families and are left to fend for themselves. The shame that these women are made to feel, elevates their problems to the next level.
It’s high time now that we realize that single women are completely capable of raising children on their own. Mothers of Anukeerthy Vas, Pooja Chopra, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry even Barack Obama are a testimony to this fact.
Actresses such as Urvashi Dholakia, Neena Gupta, Pooja Bedi, Kamya Punjabi, Poonam Dhillon are single mothers whom we can look up to and undo the prejudice against them.
What’s important is that we know that women are capable of running a home, raising children, managing a job and doing everything else. So instead of pitying or shaming these single mothers, let’s support them. Let’s look at them, learn and raise our daughters too to be independent, strong and beautiful human beings.
Image source: twitter
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Stop glorifying biological parenthood - other methods of growing a family are just as valid, and completely a couple's choice, especially of the woman whose body goes through pregnancy and birth.
Stop glorifying biological parenthood – other methods of growing a family are just as valid, and completely a couple’s choice, especially of the woman whose body goes through pregnancy and birth.
Trigger Warning: Contains derogatory remarks about having a baby through surrogacy or any means other than giving birth through biological means, and may be triggering, especially to adoptive parents.
Recently Priyanka Chopra Jonas announced parenthood by surrogacy. This has once again sparked the debate about ethical surrogacy, which is a discussion for another day.
Arathi Rajagopalan, founder of 'House of Kalart', talks about thinking like a designer & transitioning to thinking like a business owner.
Excerpts from an interview with Arathi Rajagopalan, founder of ‘House of Kalart’ – a fusion jewellery label that merges global aesthetics and traditional craftsmanship.
When did you start ‘House of Kalart’ and what was the intention?
I started House of Kalart in 2017 as a venture where painting, drawing and embroidery are married with metalsmithing to create well-handcrafted fashion jewellery. Along with painting and styling, the venture aims to create a holistic fashion experience for a bold and dramatic woman!” As a child, I had always been fascinated by arts and crafts.
In a country like ours where women are judged for every aspect of their lives, how tough is it being a single mother? Here are the stories of 5 inspiring single moms in India.
‘‘You’re not a real family!” “Oh, she must be easily available!” “Let’s avoid her because she’ll poach our husbands!”
These are some of the common things that a single mom in India has to hear. Imagine doing the job of both the parents with the utmost strength and grace and still being treated like this by people around you? Having been raised by a single mother myself, I understand the huge obstacles such a woman must overcome almost on a daily basis. Can’t we as a society be a bit more open and understanding to these courageous women? Let’s find out what five single mothers have to say about their experiences in the Indian society.
Neena Gupta must certainly have struggled with a child out of wedlock back in the '80s, but does that mean that only heterosexual couples in a marriage should have kids?
Neena Gupta must certainly have struggled with a child out of wedlock back in the ’80s, but does that mean that only heterosexual couples in a marriage should have kids?
Neena Gupta has recently spoken up about her struggles of having a child out of wedlock in the late 80s, in an interview to Mumbai Mirror.
She had her daughter Masaba Gupta with ex-West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards who was already married back home in the late 80s, and had decided back then to raise her daughter alone. Being asked if she could reverse time to the decision of having Masaba she said, “I would not have a child outside marriage. Every child needs both parents. I was always honest with Masaba, so it did not affect our relationship, but I know she suffered.”