The actress talks about her latest stint as an author and why she’s well-qualified to speak on motherhood
After Twinkle Khanna and Shilpa Shetty, Sonali Bendre has now taken to writing. And unlike Twinkle and Shilpa who chose to explore the funnier side of life and fitness respectively, Sonali’s forte is motherhood. The book is titled The Modern Gurukul-My Experiment with Parenting. “I’ve always taken up work that is outside my comfort zone. I started off in the film industry, not knowing anybody — no mentor, no godfather but I still found my way. When I became a mother, I thought to myself, ‘I can handle this too’. I read a lot about motherhood since there was so much information available. Then I realised that experience is the best teacher. Of course elders have some great advice to offer, but it has to be modified for today’s woman. When the publishing house approached me, The Modern Gurukul was born.”
Sonali, through her book wants to touch upon the pressures that new mothers face, especially for those in professions that are particularly demanding—like showbiz.
“As an actor, I am thick skinned. I don’t care what the world says about me. In my case though, for my own well-being, I started working out soon after my baby because I realised that my happiness quotient increased after a workout. You can’t give up on yourself just because you have a baby now. But you have to start working on your body when you are ready, not when the world expects you to.”
So who did Sonali turn to for advice while penning the book “My editor and my family were my sounding boards. My husband Goldie felt that some parts of the book were too personal, so that’s when he stepped in. He really liked the fact that there is a chapter on fathers. So many men like him would like to have a say in decisions about the baby and it’s important that they are involved. It’s important to have the fathers perspective.”
At the moment, Sonali is part of a kids reality show and believes that being a mother herself helps deal with the young contestants. “We shoot just one day in a week to avoid pressurising kids and try to adjust the shoot according to school timings. Motherhood has made me a lot more patient and a friend to the kids.”
