As a mother I have always had the realisation that motherhood can together be the most challenging as well as the most rewarding thing one ever undertakes to do. As mothers we are judged regularly and that’s a constant not only in our part of the world, but the world over. As a result, modern day mothers who are mostly multitasking women, tend to impose unreal standards on themselves.
Sportswomen are supermothers, who perhaps have it a little bit harder than most of us. Battling unreal expectations of comebacks and cruel body shaming, they deal with post natal and peri natal issues and syndromes while in the public eye and are often subjected to insensitivity to matters of women’s health. Athletes like Sania Mirza, Mary Kom and Anju Bobby George who were present at the RevSportz Trailblazers conclave earlier this year spoke to a full audience on such issues, bringing to the fore the topics of recovery, breastfeeding, and women’s mental health and the need for women and mothers to promote open conversation.
Today as we put out a day long conclave to celebrate Mother’s Day we draw upon athletes interviews and thoughts, along with insights from other stakeholders in the ecosystem of women’s health. For instance, RevSportz has in the last two years done several online conclaves in partnership with Bharat Serum and Vaccines (BSV), one of the principal stakeholders in the health ecosystem for women. BSV works to promote awareness of issues around breastfeeding and nutrition and to boost the availability of supplements for lactating mothers.
Also Read: Our Champions, and the Mothers Who Nurtured Them
Speaking to me in an interview for Mother’s Day, Anju Bobby George expressed satisfaction with such initiatives, stating that such open conversation in the days when she was a new mother would have helped her immensely. Anju reminisced about her own mother, whom she described as her ‘backbone’ and the person responsible for prodding her into her journey as a sportsperson. Like all mothers, Anju or Sania or Mary have had their own journeys, and what they bring forth as mothers are learning lessons not only for women and other mothers but for each of us. These are lessons in resilience and inner strength, and a triumphing of those against social media trolls or societal insensitivity. Mary spoke about the most challenging time of her life when her little son was diagnosed with a heart condition and how she balanced training with not knowing what the future held for her son. Mary has effectively transformed our modern day imaginary of motherhood with her gritty persona of the mother who became the iconic boxing legend. Anju opened up later in life about having dealt with a congenital kidney condition in the hope that other women and men, and those that she now mentors through her sport could learn from her journey.
Possibly it was the challenges and the empowerment of motherhood that allowed these power women to be stronger than ever, and today we bring that idea of empowerment, inner strength, and the stories of resilience to our readers and viewers in the form of the RevSportz Mother’s Day Conclave.
Telecast Timings- 10am 12 noon 3pm 5pm and 7pm on RevSportz YT, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter platforms.