I Did My MBBS & MD Through Marriage, Pregnancy, Kids… And They’re Proud Of Me!

A go getter who took marriage, pregnancy, and childcare in her stride as she did two professional degrees, and a fulfilling career as a gynaecologist, while also being a single mom most of the time as an army wife, this mom is inspiring!

This is a topic very close to my heart. I love my children as much as any mother would or does, but I try to incorporate my own life, my aspirations and dreams, with those of my family and children.

I’ve had perfect timing I must say! insert eyeroll I got married 2 weeks before my Final MBBS exam and that sort of set the pace for the rest of my life.

Surprisingly it was a good fit and I enjoyed the scope and ethos of the Army life both as a professional and the wife of an officer which is a job in itself.

So much for the background.

My son was born after a brief tryst with infertility, and the pregnancy was an obstetrician’s nightmare; an extremely complicated pregnancy. That set the stage for my next career step as I realised how much there is to having a good Gynecologist.

It was time to take a permanent commission, which entailed an exam and interview. Having cleared that, I appeared for the PG  entrance. My son was 3 by then, and starting on his own schooling. I loved teaching him and taking him out for picnics and vacations.

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By the time I completed my MD I was blessed with my daughter. It stressed me no end as I had topped my course in all exams but having 2 kids, with one barely a month old was not the perfect setting to ace your exams! However I surprised myself by getting the 1st Rank in Pune University.

Thereafter I’ve not done any post PG as I felt my kids had to start studying and I had to stop! However I had great tenures and the best part was that I got an opportunity to get into the teaching faculty at AFMC and other teaching hospitals, and soon became a Professor.

My kids were encouraged to follow their dreams and my son Rohan, who is an Engineer, won a national video game Jam and is presently following a career in making video Apps n games at Byjus.

My daughter Apoorva has an avid interest in horse riding is now a Bachelor in Mass Media from Mumbai University. She and I share a love for writing too.

I’ve loved reading and writing, and indulging in this hobby was also part of my own dreams. I also paint and cook. Cooking is a stress buster and a way to connect the dots at the family dinner table.

I write on a few platforms including Women’s Web, and my blog Ripples and Reflections too is fairly successful in garnering views and readership. I won an award from Women’s Web too and keep having my own little moments in winning Flash Fiction and several other prompts on various platforms.

I’ve been a single parent for a very large part of out parenting life, mostly because my husband’s work as an Artillery Officer in the Indian Army kept him away from home very very often. Yet we as a family have very strong emotional bonding, and I like to think we have a great connect which includes my talented and beautiful brand new daughter-in-law Ann.

Presently I’m a Brigadier in the Army heading a 250 bedded hospital and am doing the administration of the hospital which is what the Army expects at this rank.

All in all, I feel I’ve followed my own dreams with a few compromises, and helped my children achieve theirs too, and that is what makes me happy, proud, and most importantly content.

What happens in a social milieu like ours that anyway tells a woman that she is not important enough? That her dreams are secondary? That everything else comes first, and maybe after everything is taken care of, can she dare to dream for herself? What happens once she becomes a mom? 

But the badass woman of today doesn’t have to put herself last – maybe she can do both? Being a mom AND being herself? Finding a place for her dreams too, and going after them, without attempting to be the ‘superwoman’ society wants her to be? Do you believe in being #MomAndMore?

Editor’s note: Aruna Menon is the second winner of our #MomAndMore blogathon for Mother’s Day! Congratulations from Team Women’s Web! Aruna wins an Amazon gift voucher for Rs 500.

Image source: Aruna Menon 

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