Gul Panag sees her mother in a new light after becoming a parent

Actress Gul Panag has penned a heartfelt birthday note for her mother Annie Panag. She reflected on how becoming a mother herself has helped her understand the challenges and responsibilities her own mother handled while raising two children.

Taking to Instagram, Gul shared that it was only in her forties that she began to understand how demanding motherhood could be. She also recalled how her mother managed the household, raised her and her brother, and fulfilled the responsibilities that came with being an Army officer's wife.

"Happy birthday, Mum. It's only in my forties that I've begun to understand, rather belatedly, just how challenging motherhood really is. And consequently, how extraordinarily easy my mother made it look," she wrote.

Recalling her childhood, the “Manoranjan” actress said that when her brother Sherbir was around eight years old, her mother was raising two children, managing the home and often working as a teacher to make life more comfortable for the family.

"I often find myself thinking back to when my brother @sherbirpanag was about eight, roughly the age Nihal is now. My mother was raising two children, managing a home, navigating the demands and expectations that came with being an Army officer's wife, and often working as a teacher, as so many Army wives did, to make life a little more comfortable for us," she added.

The “Dor” actress also spoke about the invisible labour involved in being a woman, pointing out that several responsibilities are often expected but rarely acknowledged. Reflecting on her own experience of motherhood, Gul said that looking at her son, Nihal, often makes her wonder how her mother managed everything so effortlessly.

"And somehow, from where we stood as children, she seemed to take it all in her stride. Of course, I now realise that what appeared effortless probably wasn't. There must have been days when she was exhausted. Days when she worried about things we knew nothing about. Days when she had to put her own needs aside because ours came first. And then there's all the invisible labour of being a woman. The things that need doing, the people who need looking after, the expectations that need meeting. So much of it simply assumed, so little of it acknowledged."

The post further read, "But that's the extraordinary thing about childhood. You rarely see the effort. You simply grow up feeling that everything is taken care of. And then, one day, you become a mother yourself. And years later, you find yourself looking at your own child, remembering yourself at that age, and thinking, how on earth did she do it? I suspect I owe my mother a rather substantial apology for all the times I took that extraordinary competence for granted.”

“And an even bigger thank you. The older I get, the more I understand what you did for us. And what you continue to do. And how Nihal is now your favourite, and my brother and I are relegated to second place. And the more I admire you for it."

Indo-Asian News Service