International Mother’s Day 2017 – Single mother Anika Parashar is an achiever we should all look up to!

Anika Parashar, COO, La Femme, Fortis has overcome so many difficulties in her life to emerge as a winner. Read her amazing story.

By: Naz Haider | | Updated: May 13, 2017 11:39 am

What do you do when you are a global citizen, have a high-flying career, is blessed with two beautiful children and find out that your husband has been cheating and wants to leave you for another woman? You let that person go and start living your life to the fullest. Sounds difficult, right? But situations like these is when the strongest of people shine, like Anika Parashar, COO, La Femme Vertical, Fortis healthcare ltd. and the founder of the NGO, ORGAN Organ Giving and Receiving Awareness Network. Anika Parashar is one of those inspiring people who have learnt to overcome setbacks and continue living a happy, peaceful happy. She has dealt with death of a loved one, sickness, divorce and being a single mother to two children, and yet she is positive and is working towards achieving her dream of proving comprehensive healthcare facility for women and children under one roof. Interesting life, right? Here’s Anika’s life story. Also Read - 3 books single parents should read with their children

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Anika was born in Delhi and grew up living in different parts of the world. At the age of 22, she met her ex-husband and fell in love. Marriage soon followed and they started living in London, where Anika studied for a degree in Mass Media and Filmmaking. Life was peaceful and Anika started working part time while also studying for a masters degree in Marketing. When she got pregnant with her son, Nirvaan, she quit her job as she wanted to experience and enjoy her pregnancy. She wanted the whole shebang from prenatal massages to lamaze classes and everything in between. However, she realised that for a pregnant woman, commuting to these innumerable classes and services is tiresome, and this is when she thought of starting a place, a haven for pregnant women, with everything under one roof. However, starting something like this in London was difficult for her back then, so she thought of accomplishing this pipedream in India in future. This experience is also what triggered her to train as a Child Birth Educator, Prenatal and Postnatal Massage Therapist, hypnobirthing and water birthing practitioner and also a certified doula. After her son, Nirvaan, was born, she had trouble breastfeeding him, because of an inverted nipple issue. However, there was no proper counselling or even access to a lactation expert, and she had to struggle with breastfeeding. This made her even more passionate about her dream of making available a place for pregnant women where they have access to all kinds of counselling, help and services. She discussed this idea with her father, who loved it from the word go. This gave Anika the confidence that she could work towards it and achieve it.

The first setback in her life came when her father passed away. Grieving, Anika’s mother urged her to return to India, and Anika did, lock, stock and barrel. In India, Anika started to work towards achieving her dream and approached her father’s friends with her idea, meanwhile freelancing with various hospitals. This also the time when she got pregnant and had her daughter, Inayat. Mahindra and Mahindra loved Anika’s idea and asked her to get on-board to work on a concept that now we all know as the Mom & Me stores, across the country. Anika accepted to work for Mahindra & Mahindra for a year, to get the Mom & Me stores started. For this, she had to travel back and forth between Bangalore and Delhi with 2 kids. Under her guidance, Mom & Me inaugurated 2 Mom’s lounges in Delhi and Bangalore. It was a complete wellness solution for mothers-to-be with fitness solutions, especially formulated massage oil and specially-designed massage beds that had a hole to accommodate the pregnant belly. This concept won awards globally for this innovative idea.

While things were looking great on the career front, Anika’s personal life became turbulent. Her mother, who had been suffering from heart problems since long, took ill and needed a heart transplant. She refused to go to USA for the same as she did not want to disturb the entire family. Anika went back to Delhi and they started looking for a heart transplant in Delhi. Now the problem they faced was there was no network or medium to bring together a donor and a recipient, and Anika’s mother missed out on a heart because of this. Anika and her mother moved to Bangalore in hopes of finding a donor heart. After six moths of fruitless waiting, Anika decided to start an NGO called ORGAN. It is not just a network between organ donors and recipients , but way more than that. It is a country-wide database that includes state and locality wise grocery stores, accommodation, travel options, commuting routes and other services that people relocating to a new place can benefit from.

After all this, when they came back to Delhi to discover that Anika’s husband had been cheating on her. After all that she had gone through, this she was not prepared for. All she could think of, at that time, was her children, who were eight and five. She wanted to work things out and have a ‘family’. But eventually she realised that all her efforts were futile. Her ex-husband had made up his mind to go away, and by fighting it, she was only causing problems for herself and her children. She decided to let go of him, along with all the negativity and anger and embraced her life.

Today, she is a proud single mother to her kids, a respected professional and a passionate businesswoman who is working to make her dreams into reality. She says she has a team of the most wonderful people to look after her children when she’s not around. The way she manages and handles a demanding career while being a ‘full-time’ mom is amazing, and here are some tips other working moms can adopt:

She does not ‘juggle’ between the two roles. She is a working woman and a mom simultaneously. She does not divide her days, or dons a particular role. She is okay with working whenever she gets time, even from home, and she will also see to it that she will be available to her children, even during office hours.
She is committed to her work, and the people who work with her know and respect it. And that is why they understand when she needs to take time away from work for her children, because they know she’ll get the work done.
Initially, her children had a tough time accepting and adjusting to the divorce. They would have nightmares. Anika was, and continues to be, a devout mother. She did not leave the house and her children for two years. She was always there, comforting and cajoling them.
She involves her children in her work, and entertains their opinion and shares about her day with them. And they do the same. It is a great bonding exercise.
She believes that one must always be honest and authentic to the self, and that is how we can live freely and with truth.
She completely believes that mothers NEED to have their me-time, away from all the chaos. She enjoys playing the piano and makes sure that she never misses her piano lessons. She never compromises on her meditation, riding a bike and doing things she likes to do.
She is not overprotective or overcompensating when it comes to her children. As mother we are often too hard on ourselves. It is okay to lose your cool, it’s okay to want some quiet, alone time. We are humans and can be pissed at times. And our children need to learn and respect that.
And finally, she believes that every mother, single or not, should take care of her health and well-being. Because you cannot pour from an empty cup.

Image: Anika Parashar

Published : May 5, 2017 5:52 pm | Updated:May 13, 2017 11:39 am

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