ANAGHA

ANAGHA

The endless chatter

Trivial yet profound

Short lived yet life long

Those moments of mirth

filled with her laughter, uninhibited

As she brings back

my wandering eyes

on to her face

Our breathless giggling,

Baby steps to a friendship eternal

The range of expressions

 in her eyes, fleeting by the second

My heart tingles to immerse

in the music of her voice

My heart aches to pull back

the seven years gone by

in a flash

I see the world pass by

As I wish to hold the moment forever

A Mom who hid her deepest pain with a Smile, just for her Kids!

All right, we all know how important it is, but it was when I met her, I realised, she is living the word positive, really!!! Thinking positive affects how, how much and how soon our bodies heal themselves!! Meet Vibha, a woman of gut, gumption and much much more!!! She saw through her cancer and all that it brings along, with an unflagging determination to live. Read more about her here

The Gurgaon Moms Summit 2016 - A Gala Event

The day long awaited for, began with a splash of pink in all imaginable hues as I entered the main hall of Crown Plaza.

A rush of chirpy energy greeted me to the Gurgaon Moms summit. Now, this was going to be an experience, a summit, by women, for women, so immaculately put together, picking up and weaving into it just the right kind of threads, relevant to mommyhood, more importantly to womanhood. It was truly women ruling the roost.

The various interactive stalls adorned the venue. The prominent ones, the Horlicks, the Kunskapskolam with their ever smiling representatives were a visual delight, though the most sought after stall still lay ahead. One could hold a placard that one most related to and get clicked. Some of the captions that the placards spoke were “ multitasker”, “mend”, “fix” etc. Wow. Now that was a brilliant idea. The printed and framed result is an endearing keepsake.

The very multifaceted Vasu Primlani was going to keep us cracking every minute with her witty one
liners.

Neela, with her welcome address and the warmth of her voice, touched the chords of many a heart. #momsurecan #momhasdone

Supposedly close to every mother’s heart, the first session, a very meaningful one, was about regaining one’s identity without compromising on the title ‘mom’. The celebrated author Sutapa Basu, recited a poem in appreciation of the woman, indeed a very gladdening one.

The various moms cum professionals presented their valuable views about how they handled the various responsibilities. Something that stayed with me was how can one be a happy mom, a happy person, above all. It is so very essential to sometimes break away from those norms which limit us and soar higher, winning over our own selves each day.

True happiness lies in learning to enjoy and embrace what one does. As a mom, it is difficult to keep up to the challenges that one is faced with, but the word ‘woman’, itself exudes so much power, so much capability. A woman is able to take up so many identities, just what is needed is the determination to be stress free and taking it easy at times.

The next session about domestic abuse must have directly or indirectly imparted a lot of strength to the audience, without doubt. The experts, Dr Roma Kumar, a counsellor, Rajshri Sen from Breakthrough and our very own Gurgaon mom, Kanika Kush threw light on how domestic abuse stretches beyond physical boundaries to psychological and verbal fringes too. Kanika, a victim herself,  more appropriately a survivor, described her journey of victory over her own limitations and breaking the template. While most women keep struggling in an abusive relationship for the sake of their children, her child was precisely the reason why she chose to step out of her unhappy marriage and gave him a happy life. Advocate Sunieta Ojha aptly explained the legal aspects of the cases out of her own vast experience and emphasized on identifying abuse at the right time, while Dr Kalpana Viswanath, the founder of Safetipin, alongside stressed on how those little steps of humanity on our end can help many a women in their hour of need.

As all of us dispersed to attend the break out sessions before lunch. I entered Shilpi Singh’s session. Shilpi, who comes across as a very warm and affable person talked about creating an ecosystem to maintain a work life balance.  We racked our brains and thought of some creative solutions to the little everyday glitches that we face while managing the daily regimen of work and family. She brought our focus to the fact that with an effective ecosystem, a woman can aim to do whatever she wants. How heartening that seems !!

If it had not been for time crunch, we could have asked her to go on and on.

The lunch, needless to say was a well thought out, elaborate affair, the sumptuous desserts giving it a perfect finale. The obvious lethargy that it brought was effectively blown away by a refreshing drum
session that we undertook soon after. It completely replenished all the energy and brought back cheer in the hall.

How we, as parents can be control freaks when it comes to our children, it is tough to bring ourselves to believe that they have their own individualities. This session bringing to light, the funny side of parenting was just about that. The renowned panel members, recalled and shared with us incidences from their lives when they’ve turned serious situations around using plain humor. Bringing up children can be mentally and physically exhausting and that’s when humor saves the moment. Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director of Apollo hospitals, Dr Shelja Sen, child psychologist and the author of the book, “ All I need is love” ,as professionals discussed the technical aspects of the process. Shunali Shroff, who has compiled her personal accounts in her book, “Battle hymn of a bewildered mother”, gave us a sneak peak into her amusing anecdotes involving her kids.

Lt Rita Gangwani, a timid, soft spoken person, but strong willed deep within, firmly believes in giving importance and taking care of oneself every now and then. In her session about feeling good in one’s own skin, she talked about faith in the Almighty and how she has always placed her trust on the fact that we are all but parts of the larger picture, which is bound to be beautiful.

A thoughtful thank you poem by Upasana aptly culminated the summit. She took care to acknowledge all of them all who had been working hard to put the grand event together.

Soaking up all the wisdom from the meaningful interactions during the day, we stepped out to see some well known salons of the city, all set to pamper us with their alluring relaxation massages. An awesome ending to an awesome day!!!

How can one forget the goodie bag, a mark of our presence at the summit, a small bag containing just the kind of knick knacks needed by a mommy!!!

Unbelievably excellent!! Impeccable!! Couldn’t get better than this!!! A refreshing break from the monotony!!

More power to you Gurgaon moms!!! Kudos to the team !!


Photo Credits : https://www.facebook.com/momsummit/

The Gurgaon Moms Summit 5 March 2016

    The schedule of the summit dropped in my inbox just when I was frisking my wardrobe to decide my dress for the day. Booyaahh.. and.. it’s gonna be a delight to be there.. The schedule tells me..

Some great topics to churn the brain, some insightful conversations flowing, and some women of rationale. Can’t wait for Saturday...

I am sure there’s something that interests everyone of us.

Eager to listen to how these committed professionals, yet passionate moms speaking on how they managed to hold on to their true identity, that of a woman, in the discussion, “retaining the me in mom” and implement some of that in my own life. Maria Gorretti , I am sure, has managed some great experiences in her life as a mother, a celebrity and a wife.

How encouraging to see that who’s who of Gurgaon, the DC and the Municipal Corporation support our cause. Just this afternoon I saw a big hoarding in one of the prominent areas of the city. Felt proud to be a part of it.

The other very important panel discussion talks about a very sensitive topic, domestic abuse. An issue that has been brushed under the carpet for years, now thankfully is gradually coming out. Dr Kalpana Vishwanath, as a co-founder of Safetipin, an organization dedicated to building technological solutions for women safety, would be at the helm of the discussion. She herself, is strongly committed to building safer cities for women through various forums. 

Apart from the discussions, the pre-lunch session has something to lighten us up. Vasu primlani, whose cap has innumerable feathers, is going to entertain us with some witty humour. Apart from being a stand-up comedian, she is a triathlete..olaah…a ballerina, an environmentalist..pheww. This is just a little of what she does.

How important it is to find that one little thing in our lives and work on it for the unending dose of happiness all our lives. Expanding ones horizons and working to satisfy ones creative urges without feeling guilty is the order of the day. This is what our early noon sessions are all about.  .. We just need little reminders which help us to strike that balance and feel good about our achievements. There sure is gonna be some great learning for the mommies in us with these breakout sessions.

When life gives you lemons, make a lemonade out of them, Sylvies, the famous hair stylist, who is also a cross dresser, shows us how she has turned her life of misery around into a success story  The chat is going to be a window to her life and some lessons of life for us too.

Going further, we as parents think we are the bosses and sometimes take our kids for granted. Let’s see if we need to take a relook at or attitude with an informative session with the Dr. Anupam Sibal, the competent child psychologist from Apollo, Dr Shelja Sen, the author of the famous book on dealing with children, the only thing we need is love and the other experts.

 We need to feel good about ourselves before we hit back home and rejoin family, fresh and rejuvenated. So concluding the well spent day, we have Retd. Lt. Dr Rita Gangwani to instill in us the confidence to feel good in our own skin. I am sure we are a supaah confident lot, but it’s these lovely reminders in a low moment that hold us upright.

And, not to forget, something that is worth the wait, the spa sessions by the famous salons of Gurgaon, especially for the delegates. Its good to give oneself some credit once in a while, get pampered and show the glow ladies!!!!!

See you at the summit!!!!

Saturday is juzzt 3 days away!!!!