Jill of all trades

Manpriya Singh

It makes sense to be the first or be fashionably late and that is definitely better than never. Sonali Bendre’s joining Twitter made as much news as the nonsensical Tweets are often used to.

“Since many kids are moving towards a more social media oriented world, I felt that I had to join it rather than banish it, considering the fact that my son will eventually be a part of it as well,” she shares, but not before admitting, “I have never been a tech-savvy person. In fact, I’m the kind of person who does not even have a display picture on Whatsapp. So, joining Twitter has been absolutely overwhelming.”

On what occupies the better part of the day, she shares, “Plenty of things of which, housekeeping is probably the most difficult.” Quite an understatement, what with the two television shows, India’s Best Dramebaaz and Mission Sapne already on and the book Modern Gurukul: My Experiment with Parenting already out. First time mother- turned-first time author opens up about her debut literary endeavour, how television is treating her and whether any plans of a comeback ever.

Book: The why, how and what

Raising a child is a completely different world altogether. Different decisions you have to take in the process can be mind-boggling. Reading various books on parenting eventually made me lose focus and perspective. I took a break and began to jot down little pointers and notes which with time and discussions with friends and family turned into a book. These pointers included information, which might not have been relevant for my child Ranveer but became significant information for others.

Motherhood, quite a task

Accepting that I was not a superwoman was the most challenging part. Everybody’s dos and don’ts are different; one cannot give a generic list of the right and wrongs of parenting. Through my book I’ve mentioned that there aren’t any right methods of parenting. Eventually you have to find the right path and my book just narrows down certain aspects, which can be taken as an understanding of one mother’s experience.

Parents, take note

In the midst of raising a child, every parent battles with the constant fear of going wrong. However, you need to keep trying. It took me a while to get to that level of accepting the fact that there is no right or wrong way of going about it. You have to accept the fact that it’s not about black and white, there’s a lot of grey.

What’s with the TV

On television, I get to be myself and put some of my opinions out there so I definitely enjoy that aspect of television shows. Also, television shoots come closest to office hours and it allows me to spend time with my son in the morning and at night, which is a priority for me...However, films are increasingly evolving with stronger roles and content and without a doubt gripping. At this point I am not planning a comeback but if I feel the role is worth taking then I would definitely consider it.

Bollywood, these days

Earlier, most of the women were married. For instance, there have been heroines, like Sharmila Tagore, who have done outstanding work after being married. Given the social trend and India being a young country, cinema is youth-centric. With the coming of multiplexes more voices can be heard. The trend is encouraging and there is a difference. I am cinema-going audience and I would definitely stand by this change.

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