A liberating and loving read on mothers beyond binaries
Kavitha Shankar 
The book: Mommies
On Sunday, May 11, recognised globally as Mother’s Day, the Children’s Book For All Community came together to read ‘Mommies’, authored by Richa Jha and illustrated by Priya Sebastian. The book beautifully highlights motherhood, as an embodiment of the person they are, and not a ‘one size fits all’ role. As a community, we explored the reading, making connections with our personal stories.
Our reading commenced with a reflective activity, where each participant shared anything they would like to say to their mom; said and unsaid things. The sharing nurtured vulnerability, togetherness and love for one another. It brought up feelings of anger, love, frustration, grief, longing, disappointment, acceptance and even hope as we talked about our personal narratives of a mother.
As we began to read, the cover page of the book invited interesting reflections on how ‘mothers are more than meets the eye’, ‘mothers come in all forms’. The pages ahead struck us with their themes of embracing the personhood of a mother with lines such as ‘loves to pose’, ‘feels the feels’, ‘her special touch’, ‘doesn’t like to share’. A member from the group pointed out at how these lines particularly stand out because nurturance and sacrifice is ingrained into women from a young age. Another even remarked on how an illustration brings up feelings of sexual liberation where women wear and carry themselves in ways that they want.
A second theme that came up was mothers can be anyone and may not fit the mould which evoked beautiful shares from members about men in their lives who play the role of a mother that not only built safety but also filled their lives with hope and abundance. Another member even added to say that even if different, we must be mindful of the moulds we create so as to continue to build relationships that are shared.
“Thank you for fighting all the stereotypes while raising me … All I want to say to you is I love you and I am here for you as you are ❤️”
- A reflection shared by a participant
We concluded the reading by sharing the irreplaceable void that the absence of a mother leaves and the healing presence of those we may later meet, who hold those parts of us with tenderness and love. Here, we acknowledged how taking responsibility for our caregivers is a heavy weight to carry and what matters most is we take care of ourselves, offering what feels most safe to us at the moment. That day, each of us left the session with big feelings, knowing that at the end of the day we’re not alone and our experience is collective.
Breaking the mould and feeling the feel on Mother’s Day
This reading was facilitated by Laavanyaa and Arushi Ralli
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