by Meet a mum who is residing in United Kingdom, Vaishali Raithatha who shares how from a corporate, she has shifted gears to a new medium that enables her to spend more time with her child too.
Vaishali shares with Mums and Stories, “Coming from a joint family, I have some beautiful memories of spending a lot of time with my grandparents, aunts and cousins during holidays. I must say that boarding school was a lot of fun , growing up with friends and endless stories in the dressing room , dormitory etc.
Holidays were another special affairs with family gatherings and the best part was everyone had so much to share that there were stories around everything . Little episodes , anecdotes , jokes ,picnics , festivals ,Kathas or paths as you call in Gujarati which my grandmother read during her pujas , having done all these in a large joint family those were some of my best childhood memories.
I loved every bit of my life as a HR Professional. I was into recruitments and mass hiring and it gave me a different high reporting to work everyday and different level of satisfaction at the end of the day while rolling out offer letter to candidates and getting appreciation at work from my bosses .
However, after a child I chose a different path but that does not make me any less happier or less accomplished.
Both roles have given me equal challenges n joy. I kept myself happy in both .
I am a story teller and my son turned me into one.
(Photographs are subject to copyright).
When he turned 2.5 yrs and I started reading aloud to him , his friends would also come and join and slowly I realized I was reading and narrating stories not just to him but to all the kids who lived on the same floor in my apartment. They loved it as much as I enjoyed with them .My elder sister encouraged me then to attend a beginners workshop on storytelling to get started with it.
So I did that and thoroughly enjoyed getting exposed to this world of storytelling. I always loved children and they were equally fond of me and storytelling was a bridge .
Yes my son is always a part of all my story sessions and I do involve him . I take him for all my sessions and also take him to other events which expose him to stories .
I also do a lot of voluntary activity around story telling in schools and charity organizations here in the UK .
Talking about getting back to work if interested, Vaishali says in UK it’s easier for the transition than what she has seen in India.
“ I personally think it is easier here as people do understand when you say you took a break of a certain number of years to raise a family , no questions asked no judgment made about it . Also you have a lot more choice n flexibility- from daily supply roles to part time / full time which makes it easier.
For me however, the best part about being a mompreneur is that you are the boss with a boss baby. The best part of being a mom of course is you get to bring out the child in you. You get to do all the things which you can do along with your child which takes u back to your childhood.”
(Vaishali during one of her story sessions)
Regarding reading habits in children she shares, “I think all parents these days are aware about reading to children at an early age. As a story teller my son does see me sharing stories with others / buying books and enjoys the activities I do around it. In this process, I think he has learnt that it is an important activity which we both enjoy and also sees how other children enjoy this and I think that’s what makes me happy.
Before moving to UK, I lived in Hyderabad and I used to conduct story sessions at the community I lived and they were weekly sessions including summer camps with stories and art and craft around the stories I narrated. Also sometimes at some play schools when invited I would love to do it for them.
Currently in UK also my sessions are weekly sessions at a community centre. I also volunteer at schools and have plans to start my own story clubs with schools.
I read somewhere that a mother does not chose a child, it is a child who chooses a soul to be his mother.
Also I would like to share this with other mums that you should never get affected by anything, especially people who are always ready to judge you. They do it because they don’t know your story . Do believe that every mother is the best mother to his or her own child and no one can do it better than her .”
