Popular Actress Nisha Ganesh and her husband, South Star Ganesh Venkatram, welcomed their princess Samaira Ganesh last year. Read on as super gorgeous Nisha reflects on motherhood in interview with our very own Naushin Kiran.
What’s your most cherished moment of being a mother?
Every day is as different as the baby grows older. They tend to imitate us, see the good quality in us. I feel totally wow when I see Samaira imitating me. I can see a bit of myself in the little things she does. Everyone in the world would cherish being a mother.
How did you feel when you first found out you were pregnant?
Honestly, I was in fear, because it was a lot of responsibility on me. I had to handle everything calmly with no stress. But other than that I was very happy.
Who did you tell first?
Ganesh, obviously. As it was a planned pregnancy, we knew it before. Apart from Ganesh, I told my best friend and my close doctor friend Dr. Balaji.
What did you crave while you were pregnant?
Initially, I was not craving for anything. Everybody was asking about my cravings but I didn't have it in me until 7 months. Ganesh closely watched my food habits during pregnancy. I was eating everything that came in to my mind. On my trip to Mumbai, I enjoyed the street food a lot; usually Ganesh ignores such unhealthy stuffs. So I started using the word "Craving" often and continued to enjoy them, Ganesh would get them for me. I ate a lot. By the end of pregnancy I started eating sweets. Usually I love only spicy foods, but it gradually turned to sweets nowadays. Till now I crave for sweets. I had a sweet tooth before but now I love to have sweets after my every meal.
What is the most difficult challenge or health issue that you’ve faced during pregnancy?
I never had any health issues. I was super healthy and super flexible. I was actively doing yoga and breathing exercises so my gynecologist was very happy. Even at 9 months I was still doing deep squats. Everybody felt proud about it. I was also busily working on my show Star Singer; despite the usual work pressure I didn't face any health issues.
Are you the fun parent or the serious one?
I am definitely a super cool fun mother, because that is what I am like as a person too and so is Ganesh. Samaira might one day feel srongly about this and insist us not to behave like kids in future (chuckles). Even now I play with few of her toys like the kitchen set which she doesn't. So yeah, I will always be a friendly mother.
Do you think it’s easier to be a mom or a dad?
No, it’s very difficult to be both. Nobody warned me about this when I asked the same question to others. Raising a new generation has a lot of responsibilities. Also being a mother, we have to sacrifice so many things like sleep, our appearances, and food habits and so on. It’s important to show unconditional love without any expectations and I feel we need to self-evaluate regularly to be a better version of ourselves. If we commit any mistake, the next generation might follow the same. So we have to be calm, composed, sweet and kind. We have to take care to not show any negative emotions. I was very careful in that, because usually babies learn things faster. It’s very difficult to be a mother.
What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who is about to have their first child?
I will definitely want to ask a question - Are you ready to do it? Are you doing it for yourself or due to pressure from elders/society? If not for yourself, then take your time; know more about your partner. But once you have a baby, both parents have to support fully. We read few books like “Pregnancy Journey” while Ganesh was reading "Expecting Father". For a newbie father, there are very limited books available because nobody talks about. I would suggest them to read these two books first, spend time with each other, be calm and then plan for a baby. So, that’s my advice.
What’s been the biggest surprise about motherhood?
Every little thing about motherhood is surprising. It feels complete. Before I used to work on crazy schedules, sometimes non-stop for 48 hours without sleep, energy and even during illness. But now I am completely different as a mother. I am always ready for my baby whenever she needs me anytime. I really don’t know where I get the energy from. I was surprised about that myself and it’s a fact most mothers would agree upon. I always asked my mom about how she managed when I was a child and how our previous generations multi-tasked so well. OMG, I felt very surprised. It’s surprising how I sleep minimum, work more and take care of my baby with lot of energy.
Who’s the mom that you admire most?
Ganesh’s elder sister Sakina. She takes care of her children with a lot of patience, in fact a 100 times more than Ganesh would. She is always very calm and composed. I’ve seen most parents insist their kids to focus only on studies, while Sakina teaches her kids life skills, how to treat everyone with respect, be very welcoming and warm towards guests, spend quality time with others. She’s blessed with two cute kids, an 8 year old and a 5 year old. I admire her the most. If I could do even 20% of what she does, I’ll be really happy and I know for a fact that Samaira will turn out to be a wonderful person if follow her footsteps.
What advice did your mother give you while embarking motherhood on your own?
My mother is also like a baby in her own way, what’s funny is that she does not remember anything from her own pregnancy like my birth time, experiences or difficulties and so on. Therefore I didn’t get much advice from her though except to ask me to eat healthy. She was a young mother so maybe that could be a reason.
What’s your take on mommy-shaming?
I work on television, also a star wife of actor Ganesh. I kept an open mind. Few of the ladies would say "After having a child you will become very fat ". I don’t understand their need to mommy-shame and think it’s unnecessary to reply to them. I was head strong to enjoy my motherhood at its best. Samaira is 10 months now and I’m still breast feeding her. So I need to be strong for her. Ganesh advises me to not lend ears to what others say. I’ve my own group of mommies and we talk about our babies and the positives. So I don’t bother about mommy shaming.
What Advice Can You Give Our Mommy Readers?
Do what is right. Mistakes might happen, so it’s ok, don’t worry about that. Let’s decide what beauty is on our terms and ignoring the naysayers. Focus on only your baby’s growth.
What are the funniest things your kids do?
Samaira is learning to stand now. One funny thing she does is, when Ganesh wears his sleeping eye mask and pretends to sleep, she thinks it’s a game and wouldtry to jump on him. Everything she does is cute and funny.
Your Mother’s Day wishes to your mom?
She is a kid in her own way. She’s currently staying with me in this quarantine period. I can’t imagine what I would do without her help. She had no help when I was little. Kudos to her for doing it all on her own. I will always celebrate you and take care of you like a precious diamond.
How do you usually spend Mother’s Day?
This Mother’s day is super special because I am one too this year. I often forget that I am a mother; the feeling has not fully sunk in. I haven’t planned for anything yet, but will do something special with Samaira and my family.
What’s your take on motherhood?
Motherhood has taught me a lot, parenting is never ending. Its forever, post-partum body is out of shape, wobbly, dimpled with stretch marks, you learn to love yourself and when you see the little human you remember your worth and forget all the pain and handle everything with grace. I’ve learned to accept who I am and figured out how to avoid unwanted advice without being bothered. I am very strong now and Happy Mother’s Day
On a parting Note: A big Hi to all the loving mothers out there and Happy Mother’s Day to you. Thank you SHE for the questions. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken so much in detail about my motherhood to anyone. It brought back all pleasant memories.
You’re welcome Dearest Nisha, SHE salutes you and hopes to share more of your fun adventures with little angel Samaira and her Super Cool Dad Ganesh to our readers.
Love, Team She
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