BEING A DIVA

Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.”

You can’t get closer to truth than this.

 Flashback year 1996: Years spent in the service industry saw me struggling hard with keeping up with times. And then finally one day my perseverance paid off and I was living and working my dream job. Travelling around the world, soaking in the different cultures, wallowing in luxurious hotels, shopping from the most coveted cities in the world, meeting jet setting celebrities’ and getting paid to do all of the above was just the beginning. Yes, those are few of the innumerable perks you get when you fly as a Flight Attendant with one of the leading airlines in the world.

 I could not think of leaving home without my oh so necessary make –up kit, crammed up with my facial oil blotters, moisturizing wipes, sun-screen, my extra huge sun glasses, facial spritzer to keep my skin hydrated at all times, lip balm coz heaven forbid I forget one of those and my favourite Fisherman’s mint. And then came along all my other regular make-up ….compact, lip stains, blusher, mascara and my eyeliner with their respective accessories. My handbag was armed for making me look like a “DIVA” at all times or so I thoughtJ

Year 2003: So here I am with the rain beating down on the hospital window holding the most precious gift, my daughter “MAHIKA” weighing a perfect 3 kgs swaddled in her blanket, a month before I was expecting her. My journey onto motherhood starts from there.

Needless to say, I had to bid “adieu” to my fabulous career and say “hello” to the new one in hand.

First few days started from regular feeds and customary burping sessions; there were very few sleepless nights thanks to my daughter’s sleep cycle (she would sleep right through the night). Very soon the first one month was over and we all kind of settled into our lives. So to celebrate we went out for dinner as a family.

I once again equipped with my handbag full of my make-up ammunition and another bag with Mahika’s baby stuff (all astute mothers know what goes in and for those who don’t…some day you will), looked forward to a lovely evening ahead.

To cut a long story short by the time we were back home Mahika’s baby bag had been opened like a zillion times and all the stocked items inside were near depletion and my handbag was not even opened up once. So, I thought it’s just a matter of time and I would go back to looking lik a “DIVA” soon.

A year passed away, and soon the first milestone became the second and it was time to pack our bags and move to another city(thanks to the Indian Navy) I was still jet setting and living out of my suitcase or in this scenario my trunk boxJ

As I was packing the things on my dresser I removed a box which I had completely forgotten about containing my facial spritzer, my oil blotting papers and my compact which had caked, couple of my lipsticks which had cracked and my bath salts sans  their amazing ylang-ylang aroma. Any person who loves make-up like I do will tell you that wasting make –up brands like Body Shop, Bobbi Brown and Clinique is a definite “No-No”. I was shocked…it was a sacrilege on my part. How could I have let this happen?

I knew the answer to that all too well; motherhood brings with it a miraculous change in most women. We don a completely different persona; push ourselves to unchartered territories, test our multitasking capability, cash in on our inner strengths from day to day and surprise ourselves with our patience which we were completely unaware of possessing in the first place.

So somewhere along that journey I had forgotten about looking like a “DIVA”. Where was the time for it? Don’t get me wrong, I would still took care of myself but it was “just the essentials”.

Present Year 2012: Now my daughter is stepping onto her 9^th year, another new age to be discovered by both her and me. The pull-along toys have been long replaced by basket ball, badminton racquets and roller blades. The adorable dresses have traded places with more functional t-shirts, shorts, tracks and jeans. Now she no more asks me to buy her Cinderella princess shoes…instead she prefers gladiators, flip flops and sneakers (a die- hard Adidas fan).Her bookshelf which had graced “Read to Me” fairytales, now proudly holds Enid Blytons, Famous Fives, timeless classics like Little Women & her latest desired book on “Ancient Rome”.

9 years is short of a decade….so quite a few years of motherhood experience. And it’s not just Mahika whose needs have changed. I still believe in always being well groomed and presentable. But now my make-up kit is reduced to the essentials-moisturizer, sun screen, mascara and lipstick. I indulge myself now with more time in hand, to mini spa treatments and give myself a day to completely rejuvenate inside and out.

My love for high heeled shoes will always be there but now my shoe cupboard has more of flats and my trusted moccasins (I simply cannot do without them). My bathroom cabinet which once boasted of products which would put Cleopatra to shame now has a basic exfoliator, shower gel and a loofah.

My clutch bags are stored way inside my cupboard and my fore runners are my more sturdy bags which can carry  essential things like my wallet, keys, a small bottle of water, wipes, a pen with a small note book filled with chores which needs to be done and maybe a tinted lip balm. More so often they also carry my daughter’s chewing gum, a packet of chips and a small Tupperware with “Dry Fruits” just in case she wants to have a snackJ

 Being a woman my love for good things in life is in my genes, but once I became a mother I had the time only for the necessities (at least for the initial few years). Let’s accept it we all love to be pampered and look beautiful. But in my  journey so far I have learnt a very humbling lesson-

To be a Diva:

“You don’t need to LOOK like a DIVA, you need to FEEL like one”.

(Dedicated to all the mothers who work tirelessly at home and on professional fronts with a common goal-  ensuring that their kids have an amazing future ahead, you all are DIVAS)