When we think of the mothers who have inspired us, our minds go to women who hold motherhood with a distinct lightness and nurture themselves and their children with palpable joy and easy wisdom.

Shena Gamat is someone who fits the bill. Her work in theatre and with the Rock Street Journal brought together young people and gave them the space and vocabulary to thrive, much before the dawn of social media. Her beautiful daughter Aditi, Dot. is a veritable treasure trove of talent and a true reflection of her mother’s inimitable spirit. Shena has found a way to redefine herself with every passing decade and embodies the transformative power of self-awareness and resilience.

Currently involved in her start-up, “It’s All Good”—a platform for joyful living and curated retail experiences—Shena brings to this venture several decades of experience in the performing arts. She has worked as a theatre practitioner, founder of the theatre company Barefoot, and co-founder of the music magazine The Rock Street Journal. Shena was the Show Running Director for the production Zangoora at Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon.

In 2012, she initiated “The Dog Would Know”, an effort to bring theatre games and experiences to public spaces across the city. (The documentation for this is still available at The Dog Would Know blog if you are interested.)

Shena also worked in the social sector as Programme Director at the Society for Labour and Development, Delhi, where she developed and managed an arts-for-social-equity program and cultural centre. Additionally, she is an active and versatile voiceover artist, having lent her voice to documentaries, corporate films, IVRs, ads, e-learning projects, and audiobooks for both adults and children.

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Self Actualised Motherhood - Redefining success, Self Worth and Productivity

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As Adrienne Rich puts it “All human life on the planet is born of woman. The one unifying, incontrovertible experience shared by all women and men is that, months-long period we spent unfolding inside a woman’s body.”

Today's episode we delve into a deeply personal and insightful exploration of feminism and Motherhood with our guests Tanushree Seth and Tena Pick.

They show us that self-actualised motherhood within a capitalist construct is achieved through radical equality, focusing on emotional intelligence and rebuilding ourselves without shame or guilt. Our conversation highlights the value of developing compassionate language for ourselves and how motherhood can be a truly healing experience if we let go.

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Tena pick Bio

Tena Pick is a social impact consultant passionate about women empowerment, community development and social impact measurement. She is based in India with extensive experience in the Middle East, Caribbean, Africa and South and Southeast Asia. She is the Founder of Project Kal, a gender leadership academy focusing on dismantling toxic masculinity patterns in India. Project Kal works in the prevention of gender-based violence by proactively and intentionally engaging men in the greater conversations around equality. As a Founder, Tena works with schools, corporations, universities and social enterprises around India. Project Kal also focuses on policy advisory and thought leadership in the gender and development space. She is also co-founder of Parenthesis, a feminist parenting platform. She lives in Bangalore with her husband, Josh, and her soon-to-be 4-year-old son, Leo.

Tanushree Seth

Tanushree is a seasoned business leader with 16 years of experience in the US, India, and Southeast Asia. After graduating with an MBA from the Wharton School, Tanushree joined Booz & Co. in NYC where she advised leading fortune 500 companies in beauty, personal care, wellness, and fashion on marketing and growth strategy, turnaround, restructuring, and retail operations. She then joined Estee Lauder Companies in NYC to lead growth strategies for 30+ prestige beauty brands across makeup, skincare, haircare, and fragrance. She moved back to India after almost 2 decades in the US, to run the business in India for Estee Lauder, Tom Ford, and several designer fragrance brands. More recently, Tanushree launched an acne-focused brand with $2M in pre-seed funding, which she exited last year. Tanushree lives in Bangalore with her husband, Raja, and two kids, Nirvaan and Tara.

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Priya

Bakul

The Mommy Mix Tape

Tena Pick and Parenthesis

Tanushree Seth

Podcast Mention:

The Mommy Mix Tape on The Seen and The Unseen - Figuring Out Motherhood

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:

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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?