iDiva covergirl Neha Dhupia isn’t one to mince words on how tough motherhood is; from missed moments because of being a working mom, to the stigma she faced when breastfeeding her daughter Mehr in public, she’s been pretty outspoken about it all. In a new interview with The Times of India, she spoke about teaching her daughter to say no.
Image Credit: Instagram, nehadhupia
“The first word I taught her was bas. She should know when to say enough. If the food being fed is too much she says bas, if she is being forced to do anything or if somebody is pulling her cheeks more than she would like, she knows that she has to say bas. She knows how to say no. Strong women raise strong daughters and I always tell my daughter that if she is not comfortable, she should just say it. The other day she was playing and somebody tickled her and she said ‘bas, bas’. So she knows when she has to say no, and she would apply it for the rest of her life now,” says Neha. “A lot of parents (and I respect them) have huge aspirations about which institution their child should go to or what their children should do. As a mum, I feel that I want to raise my daughter believing that she has a voice and she should know how to exercise the power of that voice,” she added.
Image Credit: Instagram, nehadhupia
Pretty empowering words from Neha, and this is exactly what modern parenting is all about. Even though Mehr is 18 months, we love the fact that her mum is teaching her consent and the power of saying no from such an early age.
Image Credit: Instagram, nehadhupia
Neha was also questioned if Mehr was aware of her parent’s celebrity status. She answered: “Mehr hasn’t seen me or Angad (Bedi) on screen as she hasn’t had any screen time yet. But we have a pile of magazines lying in one of the corners of the house, and as she can crawl now, she saw me on one of the magazine covers and recognised me. When Angad’s pictures are in papers, she would recognise him, too.”
Frankly, we need more celebrities like Neha who are using their influence to spread the right message.
Lead Image Credit: Instagram, nehadhupia
