Yummy Mummys Open Up On Their Lives As Working Mothers

Career  or motherhood? Gone are  the days when when actresses had to make that tough choice. Jaya Bhaduri was  a superstar  when in 1973 she gave it all up. On the  other hand Sharmila  Tagore who had a blooming career going at  around the same  time as Jaya,  chose to continue her career after marriage   and motherhood.

“It is a  piece  of  cake.In fact I entered one  of the most productive periods of  my career after marriage. I was shooting for Aradhana when I  was pregnant  with Saif and  by the time I did Amar Prem with Rajesh Khanna, Saif was  born and would accompany me to the
sets,” says Sharmila.

Sharmila’s daughter-in-law Kareena  Kapoor Khan seems  to have chosen to walk her gorgeous Sasu-maa’s path. No, you won’t see her  son
Taimur toddling to  the sets. But while  Taimur is looked after  by her very capable  nanny, Kareena  will fly out  to Delhi  to shoot and
promote Veere Di Wedding.

Kareena says that the workload has definitely  decreased for her son’s sake. But she will continue to  work in maybe one  film per year.

However Kareena’s sister-in-law Soha  Ali Khan has a different maternity plan.She  intends  to take  time completely  off to look
after her newly-born daughter Inaaya.

“Different  women different mothers different  plans and targets,” says Vani Tripathi Tikoo, actress and active  BJP  member and
spokesperson  of the BJP who has zipped off to the Cannes Film Festival only weeks after her first baby, daughter Akshara was born.

Apparently the Minister Of  External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, herself  a working mother who has  struck a fine  balance between  the kitchen
and the parliament, was  very upset when she got to know that  Vani Tripathi was  leaving her baby behind to attend the Cannes festival.

“How could  you ask her(Vani Tripathi) to leave her baby  until the 40-day gestation  period is over?” Ms Swaraj is said to have  asked
the  I & B  minister  Smriti Irani, herself  a shining example of an actress-turned politician who has never neglected her duties  as a
mother in spite of being so immersed  in her political career, and earlier in her extremely successful stint as a television actress.

“It is tough to leave her behind, but I’ve my  my in-laws and my mother to look after Akshara while I am here at Cannes. But it’s hard
to focus on  my work here while my baby is  back home. My entire clock and  routine are now  determined  by my daughter’s sleeping/waking
hours,” says  Vani.

Hema  Malini who  brought up two daughters while working  as a top actress says it isn’t hard to balance  her career with motherhood. “It
is like any other profession. Don’t we have women in every walk of life balancing  their jobs with family  duties? In politics we  have
such shining examples as  Ms Sushama Swaraj and Ms Smriti Irani. I never found it difficult to bring up my two daughter Esha and Ahana
while I continued  to do films.No, I never had them accompanying me to my shooting. They were very well looked after  while I was working.’

Jaya Bachchan who took a  complete  break from acting for motherhood says it was a personal choice. “There was  never any persuasion from any quarters. I  decided to quit, and never regretted my decision.”

Jaya’s daughter-in-law Aishawray followed  a  different career trajectory. She took a break from acting while her daughter Aaradhya
was  an infant . But once  Aaradhya started  going to playschool Aishwarya returned to acting.

“But my priorities are very  clear to anyone who signs me. Aaradhya comes first. Everything else is secondary to her,” says Aishwarya.

Here’s saluting these super -moms whom we all admire for their heroics on screen. It looks there is a  lot to be admired in their real-life
roles as  mothers.