Dedicated to Parents

Episode 033 FindingTheVoices Being a Mom, Special Mother’s Day Podcast with Karina Duchastel from United States

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Special Mother’s Day Podcast with Karina Duchastel,  French-Canadian currently in United States sharing her journey about “Being a Mom” as part of the special series of podcast for Mother’s Day. I really enjoyed having her in our talk show, she brought very interesting perspective and it was a great learning experience. Please tune in to listen about Karina’s wonderful journey of being a Mom for her 3 wonderful kids.

Karina shares a very interesting and important point to take time to reconnect with your husband. Also she shared her wonderful perspective that Children needs to be congratulated for listening & behaving well and it is their decision to take the advice parents provide 🙂

Little bit about Karina in her own words:

My name is Karina Duchastel and I am a mom of 3 kids.  I am a French-Canadian from Quebec City and have been living in the USA since 2000.  I have been raising my kids in 3 different states: California, Maryland and currently living in the a suburb of Seattle, Washington.  My journey as a mother so far has been filled with challenges of raising kids in unfamiliar environments and language and a hard choice of being apart from our extended family. I certainly never thought I would immigrate to a country other than Canada.  My shared experience with other foreign families living in the USA have not only opened my mind about new cultures but enabled me to build strong friendships that I can call family.  Before being a mom, I had a career as an electrical and software engineer.  I actually met my husband Nicolas at an engineering school called Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal.  I have been working part-time for the past 5 years as a Quality assurance and Test Engineer for a small software company in Bellevue Washington.  I also enjoyed volunteering at my kids school and I am very passionate about passing on my French-Canadian culture to my kids and their friends.

Episode 032 FindingTheVoices Being a Mom, Special Mother’s Day Podcast with Priya Ramachandran from United States

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Thanks to Priya Ramachandran for sharing her journey of “Being a Mom” for our special Mother’s Day podcast series.

Priya is mother of 2 beautiful girls, working in United States. I really enjoyed learning many things from her experience. How many of us have to take breaks from career to strike a balance with family ? It is true that women change, tweak the career path to strike a balance between work and family, taking breaks, changing roles and responsibility and even choosing jobs to get flexibility even if that means changing your line of work.

She spoke about support from her husband, networking and setting up extended family with your friends plays a very important role.

I really enjoyed listening to her story and learning a different perspective of life as a Mother. Please listen to this podcast to listen to the story of Priya’s journey of being a Mom.     

Episode 031 FindingTheVoices Being a Mom, Special Mother’s Day Podcast with Priyadarshini Koijam from United States

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Thanks to Priyadarshini Koijam, mother of 2 for sharing her journey and experience of being a MOM.

We spoke about many topics on raising kids and my favorite is talking about pros and cons of having children with less or more age gap.

Listen to the podcast to hear about Priyadarshini’s journey of being a Mom raising her daughter and son, being a GoogleMom 🙂 wearing multiple Hats all the time raising her kids.

Should the age gap between kids be more or less ? Challenges of raising a teenager ? How different is raising a boy and a girl ?How do we go about teaching and balancing Indian values raising a teenage girl in America ? Is shouting to kids productive ? Reasoning and explanation of why children should listen to parents …

Episode 030 FindingTheVoices Being a Mom, Special Mother’s Day Podcast with Surjarani Sairem from Canada

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Presenting Surjarani Sairem in our special series of podcast for Mother’s Day. Surjarani is originally from Imphal, Manipur on our special series of podcast for Mother’s Day 2013 sharing her journey of “Being a Mom”. She did her schooling from Little Flower School, Imphal. She completed her Bachelor’s of Computer Application from Mangalore and did her Masters of Computer Application  from Sikkim Manipal University.

Currently residing in Montreal, Canada, married with a beautiful daughter who is 2 yrs and 5 months old now. She was a working woman before and after her daughter arrival she become a stay home mom and a full-time student. She is a foodie and loves to cook.

How many of us think that you will have your family come over to help out during the child’s delivery to have no one as there was visa rejection ? How much we depend on books and internet to get advice on childcare rather than asking or Moms ? What learning’s a mother has to go through and grow as the child grows, particularly for an immigrant ? How beneficial are birthing classes ? We spoke a lot of interesting topics faced by a young mother.

Listen to her podcast to catch up with her sharing about journey of being a Mom. She shared her experience of having to learn French staying in Canada, and how she is trying to teach her native language Meiteilon to her daughter.

HAPPY MOTHER’s DAY Saroj Nalini Ingudam

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FindingTheVoices Mother's Day 2013 Manoranjan

Mother: Saroj Nalini Ingudam, Retired Teacher, Imphal, Manipur.

Every mother is unique . On this day, I would like to appreciate my Ema for being the powerful person she is. When I was a child and growing up, I never realized the incredible personality she is. As I become more matured, I realize the qualities she possess and yearn to learn more from her. I yearn to become more patient , more courageous & calm in the face of difficult situations like her, humanity & connection is more powerful mode of communication than just language so often demonstrated when she visited me in Bangalore

…. Also I admire to strength with which she had brought up four of us, who are unique and different but brought up with equal love and care. I also admire the never give up and positive attitude even in adverse situations.

On this day I would like to thank & salute Ema and wish her a very good Mother’s Day.

Ingudam Manoranjan, IT Professional, Bangalore, India

HAPPY MOTHER’s DAY Maisnam Ongbi R.K. Sanatombi Devi

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Mother: Maisnam Ongbi R.K. Sanatombi Devi, Retired Asst. Head Mistress, Lilasing khongnangkhong Govt. High School.

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Submitted by Manas Maisnam, Imphal based cartoonist.

HAPPY MOTHER’s DAY SAGOLSEM SHYAMGHANABATI DEVI

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Mom: SAGOLSEM SHYAMGHANABATI DEVI,  assistant teacher in Lanjing high school, Imphal, Manipur.

She finds happiness in whatever happiness I meet,
she understands what I understand and why I understand it,
She prays for me even when I pray for noone but myself,
She sees all the beauty I tell her I see and delights in it through my eyes.

That is my mother. She would give me the whole world if she could gather it in her arms.That is why she will never have the whole world in her arms; that is why she will always have the whole of my love.
I love you mom unconditionally.

Submitted by DHANPYARI.M, Student, MBA University of Wales UK

HAPPY MOTHER’s DAY VOMNU TOUTHANG

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My mom’s names is VOMNU TOUTHANG. She is a housewife & a great & wonderful mother

I appreciate my mom for the strict discipline and inculcating the ethics of hard work and doing any job small or big without any fuss and to be thankful and grateful for everything in life !!! She has scolded us all siblings not because she hate us but because she loved  & wanted us all to do better in life under very  hard & trying times in our lives.She never did have the chance for a proper schooling as she grew up in an orphanage in Kanglatombi’s Children’s Home.She did have a difficult childhood as she lost her own mom at an early age during the World War II…It has made her look at life differently and so she has tried her best to raise & bring us all up the best way she could despite all difficulties & all kinds of hardships she faced.But she never wavered nor backed down.It made her all the more stronger.This is what I have observed and got from her which has withstood me for good.I thank her for all the mental toughness that I do have today.She enforced speaking in her Kuki dialect at home with us so that we could be fluent & at the same time in be able to communicate with my dad in Manipuri language.  I am glad we did that as it has made me value my mother tongue & can understand her side of the family much better !!! She made us get up early in the morning to do all the house hold chores &  our morning studies before we leave for school.Yes, there was no denying the fact that she was a tiger mom like any other Asian moms everywhere !!! She didnt want us to waste our time playing soccer or any sports which she thought wouldnt be any good for job prospects  in future !!!

The moment I wanted to say sorry about is the time during my teenage years when I rebelled a little bit towards her when she got to the point of not allowing me to visit places with my friends.i thought she was mean as hell as I was going through the teenage angst of thinking every little thing of her saying anything went against me.I did work as a private  kindergarten school teacher & earned enough  by doing private tutoring to fund my own travels here and there, still I wasnt allowed.That was so hard for me to accept & I rebelled .I paid for my own train ticket and left with my co worker to visit her home town in Tehri, (Garhwal)UP during one summer in the mid 80s…come what may….later..DEKHA JAYEGA…( lets face whatever later)….!!! That is my ” Oh, mom, I am sorry!! ” moment or period but I did carry on to continue working as a private school teacher to help supplement the family income.We didnt talk for few weeks as she was angry & upset at me.I for one got my new found freedom of having visited a place and seeing the beautiful Himalayam mountains which deflated my any resentment or anger inside of me against my mom !! I now understand she was anxious for my safety …me being a female & also that she could not bear the idea of me travelling on my own with an unknown co worker who was from a different Indian state of UP…..!! All said & done….it went ok & it has made her realise that I am not some one to buckle down under any circumstances…after all I learnt this from her, lol!!!! Al the product of the same household !!! …Kudos to all wonderful moms all over the world…..its not easy being a mom……!!!!

I wont sugarcoat to say I have never been scolded…..that’d be a lie.I wasnt born into a privileged family .We had to struggle to survive so my mother was the “FORCE” behind it.We felt so safe & secured under her care.Yes, we were scolded, reprimanded , disciplined & what not.We went all through the normal childhood upbringing associated with it.But we sure are glad we have our mommy dearest for our role model!!! Though we ‘re miles apart in our parenting styles…….she in her set ways & I in my own laid back style….but we’re moms anyways….our hearts beat for our kids whom we love dearly!!!!

Submitted by: Shanti Thokchom, nursing asssistant in a nursing home for the aged & elderly seniors, USA.

HAPPY MOTHER’s DAY Mrs Bonely Sangma

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Mom’s Name & profession-Mrs Bonely Sangma, Retd  Additional director Medical health services Manipur

What do you appreciate in your MOM and want to say Thank you for ?

She  is a wonderful and graceful lady. A loving mom, a caring n supporting wife to my dad and a loving grandmother to all her grandchildren. A great pillar of strength and an inspiration to  me and my three siblings

What I admire in my mom is her patience . Adjusting very well in a totally different culture, traditions n society after getting married to my father,  Her  believe in god and instilling  in us the power of prayers n faith in god.

I Will never forget those days when she would sit with us late at night during our exams even though she had to go to work the next day. Even though she was a working woman she always took out quality time for us. Nursing us day n night when we were sick .

I truly  admire  my  moms love for animals/ pets. We all grew up with dogs n cats at home and from her we have developed a fondness for dogs.

Another great thing is her hobby he tireless effort of  gardening . making the house look so beautiful with her exotic plants n flowers

I really appreciate all the things she has done for us. The lists is endless. Her  Undying love and unconditional support for her children . Never getting tired of praying for the well being  of her children everyday

Any moment you want to say sorry about ?
I want to say sorry for all the troubles I got you into. I can understand how hard it must have been raising up four daughters.
Sorry for all the thoughtless outburst on you not even thinking once how you must be feeling. You got Hurt but  you never showed n have always forgiven  me.
You truly have the heart of gold.

Thank you for always being a good listener and a good friend . thank you for all the motivations and teaching us to be good human beings .

Even when i am old enough with two kids i still need  you beside me when i feel low and down

On Mother’s Day  I want to say How much i love you and miss you . I may not call you everyday but you are always on my mind. And I thank god for being fortunate enough to be the daughter of such a great mom.
Wishing you very happy Mother’s Day dear mamma!!

Submitted by: Bobby Soram, House wife, Malaysia