Man is Free at the Moment He …

I usually talk no-nonsense stuff on the blog but I think it might be a good idea to add some Mommy Life experiences too. After all, we are all in the same boat and you are more than likely to have experienced the same yourself. Today’s post is about being a ‘Mom’. Wait a minute…this entire blog is about being a Mom, right? So, how do I explain this? Well, what I am trying to say is that there are Men, there are Women…and there are Moms! Most of what applies to the first two, does not apply to us. Lol…I will just share yesterday’s experience and you will know what I mean.

The Short Movie Culture in India

So I watched ‘Tandav’ yesterday and was mighty impressed! For those who do not know what I am talking about, ‘Tandav‘ is a short movie featuring Manoj Bajpayee. He even received some movie awards for Best Actor in a Short Movie at recent award functions. Short movies are the latest buzz, you know. And perfect for busy moms like me. Finding 2 hours for a Hollywood movie can get difficult, leave alone a full blown Bollywood drama. Short, crisp and innovative, these little gems are all over YouTube. Each movie is of about 10 to 15 minutes long which is exactly how long my toddler can keep herself occupied before running to find Momma.

The movie is outstanding and I would expect nothing less than an actor of Manoj Bajpai’s calibre. After keeping you transfixed, the 1o minute movie ends with a quote from none other than Voltaire:

Man is free at the moment he chooses to be. – Voltaire

Nobody could have given me better advice. I am on a self discovery journey of late and I needed to hear this badly. Reading that quote, understanding the meaning of the movie and realizing what it was trying to teach was like lighting a lightbulb inside my mind. I turned towards my husband and said what anyone, who finds a quote that changes their life, would say  – I am going to make that quote my Whatsapp status.

Don’t laugh! Of course, I am going to choose to be free from a lot of unwanted stuff. But we are ALWAYS looking for a brilliant status, aren’t we! And this one is so perfect!

Mommy’s ‘Every Other Day’

The day passed like every other day. I worked on my blog when my baby fell asleep. I finished some other chores while she played ‘Kidloland‘ on my phone. I managed to get the kids to complete their homework without their little sister tearing up their notebooks, like most other days. My son had to complete his notebooks and my phone is his aid. Nobody lends their notebooks these days. So, I click pictures of all the pages during PTMs and bring it back. Clever idea, isn’t it?

My mom called as usual to enquire about the kids and faithfully reminded me that she waited for me to call her (like she does every single day) before calling up. Like every other day, I apologized and explained to her that the day passed so quickly that I did not have a chance to. Like every other day, my little one created a huge scene that I had to cut short the call with a ‘Call You Later’ (that did not happen – like every other day…lol). Then there was the usual playtime with baby, trying to answer a few emails while baby played with her dollhouse, study time, feeding all of them, taking a dozen pics and videos to capture these beautiful moments etc.

Let’s Dance the Blues Away!

In the evening, when the older two went out to play, I was alone with the baby and she wasn’t in the best of moods. I couldn’t get ‘Tandav’ away from my thoughts and decided to just get up and be ‘free’ (read ‘dance’). I love to dance and so does my little baby and so I stood up to dance. But nothing goes as planned in a mom’s life, does it? My little baby refused to dance at all. And when I decided to shake a leg all by myself and stood up, she started crying and held me tightly saying ‘Mamma dance nahi karegi‘ (Mommy will not dance). So much for ‘breaking free’! I immediately shook the idea away to avoid a full blown tantrum.

Later That Night…

The ‘every other day’ finally ended after all three went to bed (the youngest being the last to fall asleep like every other day). As I sat talking about the day’s adventures with Daddy, we also went back to discussing the movie again. That reminded me of my resolve to change my WhatsApp status. I had completely forgotten about it! It sounds so awkward to even admit that I did not find the time to change my status when I work/shop/live on my phone. But I honestly did not. More than half of the day, my phone was busy catering to my kids needs. The rest of the time, I had my hands full. I couldn’t help exclaiming, “Man is free at the moment he chooses to be, but a mom is never free!”

And then we both burst out laughing. “You are right”, said Daddy. “A Mom is never free”. A little while later, I updated my WhatsApp status and then, amended my quote:

“Man is free at the moment he chooses to be, but a Mom is free at the moment her kids go to sleep.”

True for all of us, isn’t it! Daddy reminded me that I was free to dance then, as the kids were fast asleep. But I was too tired to do anything else and fell asleep myself, planning to pen down this great new quote in my blog the next day 🙂