From Ma, With Love #1 | A Love that Empowers

From Ma, With Love is a campaign celebrating recollections of feminist tales and lessons, passed down to us by our mothers, this Mother’s Day. The first edition of this compilation has 16 heartwarming stories. ‘A Love that Empowers’ by Aastha Rupwate, is the first story in this series. You can download the entire publication here.

Your first association of home and safety is most likely with your mother. So needless to say, more often than not, her approval and sense of acceptance can be crucial in your journey of navigating this world of endless filters and consuming competitiveness. Being a girl and living in India especially, there are many things I could do that can be easily termed as wrong and ‘out of character’. My mother, however, is not someone who is interested in me being ‘in character’. Since I was very young, I remember having open conversations with her about all things taboo, and more. Whether it was about sex, the clothes I could wear, the friends I could have or the way I spoke and expressed myself, there was no ‘you must’ and ‘you mustn’t’ but only safety guidelines, which I quite appreciated. She didn’t just allow me to be my true self, but empowered me to do so. And through all those times, I remember thinking to myself, that one day when I have children of my own, that’s the kind of mother I want to be. To be their home, their safe place and to make sure that my love only empowers them.