On the Shelf: Battle Hymn of the Bewildered Mother

So yes the first question is this title sounds familiar. Yes it does but if you could relate to Amy Chua then this one is not for you. It is not a parenting guide or an instruction manual to the World’s Toughest Job. This is a book you need to pick up if you are a parent with a sense of humour, this is a book you must gift to a fellow parent and this is a book you must give an expecting mom so she can probably try and make sense of what life holds in the future.

I started reading this while heading out to the parlour for my weekly vanity fix after quickly putting the kids to sleep for their afternoon nap. That’s the only way you can enjoy an uninterrupted pedicure and get volunteers to babysit. The women at the parlour were bewildered that I was laughing all by myself and it wasn’t a one off, I broke into giggles every now and then.

Shunali Khullar’s debut book is witty, funny and real. There is absolutely no pretense and this mom lets her gaurds down to admit that she wasn’t quite as thrilled as her husband to begin the joyride and it took her 15 pregnancy kits to test that the batch of kits weren’t faulty but she was finding it hard to admit that she is now pregnant.

Welcome to the opposite of everything you know. Shunali Khullar Shroff in Battle Hymn of a Bewildered Mother begins her journey as someone chronically devoid of what is naturally termed as the maternal instinct. There were moments when I just wanted to highlight all the jokes and one liners she has used to share it with my sane women friends and I am sure you will also feel the same. After being a parent for over 6 years and working in the same field the How to’s seem tad bit overwhelming and it’s nice to meet someone who is just normal and not scared to voice the truth about parenting.

Shunali shares the struggles of a regular mom with the day to day madness that a parent poses with holidays, birthday parties, PTM’s, the one liners, tantrums, the times when your kids wear the weirdest clothes and think it’s cool. Shunali does not make parenting seem easy at all but instead takes it in her stride and makes you laugh off those bad days quite effortlessly.

This is one book I absolutely recommend all moms with a sense of humour to read and gift! As Priyanka Chopra rightly said, “It is an honest confession of a young independent woman of today. It is proof that all you really need is love and some insanity to find your way through this crazy world called Parenting.”

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It’s now available on Amazon.in

Connect with Shunali on Twitter: @ShunaliShroff