It’s all about love

BENGALURU : I remember having a smirk on my face while I was watching K.Jo’s family tear-jerker where the tag-line read, ‘It’s all about loving your parents.’ Really guys! Get a grip. Families are quite cut and dry, and as far as the children go, they will emotionally squeeze the last drop of sustenance out of you! I always used this line to elicit a laugh, especially when a group of us long suffering parents got together for a joint cribbing session.

Well this was before and now is now. I spent a glorious three weeks holidaying with my daughter Alisha and son-in-law Anees in Mumbai. I was winding down, laughing sometimes, teary-eyed sometimes at the overwhelming emotional roller-coaster I had been through the last year. My adult children seamlessly helped me through the process. I was touched and grateful when the tables turned so naturally and beautifully. The giver became the receiver. The circle of love was complete.

It was so good being ensconced with my kids that coming back home without even one of them was unimaginable. So did what mother’s do best. I emotionally blackmailed my son into coming back home with us, short of beating my breast and doing a ditty whilst crying (actually I think I did that!). His eyes widened with concern and he quickly booked his ticket to fly home. Mission accomplished! I’m back to doing ‘mommy’ things,which is cooking massive meals, ordering exotic cheeses and veggies and making life for a 30-year-old as comfy as possible! But, it’s great having a mature child in the house, someone to take advice from and give advice to, make plans and generally revel in each other’s company.

Of course there are fringe benefits too. Adnan bought us a spanking new SUV when he doesn’t even drive. It was his birthday present to us! Now if this doesn’t warm the cockles of one’s heart I don’t know what will? I unashamedly did a K.Jo (mother’s) dance number, tearing up and kissing the child et al. Our good friend Samir Choudhry made sure I was given the champagne and cake treatment at the Trident-Hyundai outlet. Certainly doesn’t hurt to be treated like minor royalty now, does it? We also spent Adnan’s birthday weekend at the Leela Palace for what is now popularly known as a staycation. There too, we ran into our friend Prateek Virendra Swarup, freshly minted from Udaipur who charmingly told us that he was here to look after ‘The Palace’. Having friends in the right places was certainly a boon. Chef Zafar-Ali made sure we were always ‘full-up’ and PR Meghna Trivedy made sure our every wish turned into a reality. I chose to believe it was love! 

My friend Sindhoor Pangal is driven, committed and a social entrepreneur who recently discovered the vulnerability of ‘love’ after her husband Uttam tragically passed away. She is also a certified Canine Behaviour Consultant, myotherapist and an ethological researcher, who quit her job as a VP of a start-up, to pursue a career of working with dogs after her dog Nishi met with an accident and needed special physical and emotional care.

After her accident, while the vets were working on physically healing her beloved pet, Sindhoor knew that there would be emotional repercussions too after a trauma of this kind. So she set out seeking answers on how to help her dog emotionally and that led her into her current line of work. This TED X speaker’s current focus is educating dog-parents and professionals on canine behaviour and ethology. It’s a bitter sweet moment for her, when both Uttam, and her beloved Nishi aren’t around to see the culmination of her book, which has taken her 6 years to write and re-write. Her book, ‘Dog Knows’ is an anthem on ‘learning how to learn from dogs’

But it’s all about LOVE right?