Momspeak: The Funny, Bittersweet Story of Motherhood in India

What is it like to be a mother in India? Is there only one kind of woman as mother or can mothers be as different as chalk and cheese?

In this original, provocative book, Pooja Pande peels off the layers of social propriety to delve deep into the visceral reality of motherhood, much glorified but barely understood in India. Exploring the spectrum of experiences mothers have as women, as humans-from ecstasy to depression, jealous possessiveness to indifference, exhaustion to sensual desire-she reveals the personal, social and emotional roller-coaster motherhood can be. Through vignettes of her personal journey, and hilarious and poignant episodes in the lives of different mothers-married, divorced, single, queer, adoptive-Pande celebrates and shines new light on this transformative, life-affirming experience. Whatever kind of mother you are, you will find your truth reflected in these pages.

Pooja Pande: Delhi-based writer & editor Pooja Pande’s first book Red Lipstick, 2016, was a literary-styled memoir of the celebrity transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi. She currently heads Partnerships at India’s only grassroots, feminist digital media platform Khabar Lahariya