As Geeta Basra and Harbhajan Singh get ready to embrace parenthood for the second time, we caught up with the beautiful actress to have a chat around pregnancy and child care during a pandemic.
Read on as Geeta sheds light on how it is to be pregnant at a time like this, when challenges are a notch higher, as compared to a pregnancy under normal conditions. The actress also explains how Harbhajan has played an important role in managing things and keeping her calm.
Excerpts from the interview:
Geeta, the pandemic has thrown all of us out of gear. You got pregnant during this chaos. How difficult was this decision?
It's not easy, I won't lie. It is a very difficult time, especially for pregnant women who have to be extra-extra cautious. I don't know a lot of people out and about, I have not met a single friend of mine since a year and a half and I haven't gone anywhere or taken my daughter out too.
So, how do you keep your mental health in check, especially at a time when every second person is facing anxiety issues?
It is hard but we have no choice but to stay positive. One can meditate, do yoga or listen to prayers- whatever keeps you in a positive state of mind. It's not the easiest of time because I can't get back to (native) and I have to be extra careful. So, such situations test you as a person because hormones are all over the place during pregnancy, things are out of your hands but what is in our control is our mind, which we can program to think positive.
What is Harbhajan's involvement in your day to day life, as a father and a husband?
Huge involvement. He told me very clearly to rest. After he is back from IPL, he's totally taken charge of handling Hinaya. He takes care of her bathing, waking her up for school and getting her ready for the classes- he is hands on! And thats nice because he gets his time with Hinaya too as he's not usually at home more than often. And now that I am in my last semester, things get even more difficult for me, so it's great that he is around taking care of Hinaya.
What precautions do you take during your routine doctor visits?
The standard precautions of carrying a hand sanitizer with me all the time, not opening doors using my hands, wearing mask at all times. Also, my clinic's doors are sanitized before we come, they take all precautionary measures as they don't want to risk a pregnant woman coming to them.
How do you maintain your physical health at home. Can you suggest some home routines to follow in the absense of going out to exercise?
So, I think the only thing we need to do twice or four times a week is practice yoga, walk in the house, do some meditation. For me, because my daughter is around, it's a different vibe at home because you know she's running around, playing, so there is a gush of positive energy in the house. Kids bring that because they don't have anything else but to be happy and positive all the time.
Talking about kids, they have been homebound at such a young age and are extremely bored too. How do you keep your daughter engaged at home during lockdown?
It's been a tough task because you have to always come up with something new to engage them. I have enrolled her in multiple online classes, so she enjoys that. Around 4-5 times a week, she's busy with some online classes and other times I try to keep her involved in some activities at home which I design for her. So yeah, you got to try a mix and match of things.
But don't you think these online classes are also hampering the overall development of children?
Of course, there's nothing like a physical one on one learning but then, we are in a pandemic which is why we have no choice but to go for online education. Luckily, we have that option, imagine living in a time we didn't have the online classes as well. Kids would be stuck, their education would have got hampered. At least, with these classes, they have some form of learning that's going on.
However, I do agree that there is nothing like going to school. Kids are not developing any social skills. I feel more for my daughter, because just when it was time for her to go to the school, the lockdown was announced. So she has never seen or felt how a school is. It's a dangerous situation to be in as they are not understanding social interaction. Humans are social animals, after all. I think their overall personality development is also getting hampered.
As a young mother, what are the challenges you are facing during the pandemic?
The biggest challenge is that I can't do anything or go anywhere. For instance, when I was pregnant with Hinaya, I had a lot to do like swimming, lot of walking around, we were shopping physically, now everything is online and that's quite boring.
Another issue is that you can't meet anyone, your own family can't come to see you. My mom is in London, so during my delivery, she won't be around. A lot of women want their near and dear ones to be around at such a time, so it's depressing if you're all by yourself. I don't know when will my mother see the baby.
So how do you and Harbhajan cope with these challenges as parents?
We try to balance as much as possible, keep a positive vibe at home, play with Hinaya, make her feel that we being around her is the best thing to happen. We take her downstairs for a walk in our building. Besides all this, we try to keep the environment at home very normal and not make it look like something is wrong outside. Also, my child is very understanding, she knows that there is a pandemic, so she doesn't give me a hard time.
What advise would you like to give to all the mothers out there who are struggling to keep it together with work, home and their children?
I would say this too shall pass and there will be a time when we will embrace normality, till then hang in there. Keep doing the great job of balancing your home, your work, your children. I know it's a tough time, some mothers are struggling a lot but you got no option at this point because mothers are like the back bone of the family. It's important for the mothers to stay strong for the rest family, to keep them safe. I think it's essential that your spouse supports you both of you should be together in this, share the load and not leave it to one person alone. Both of you must do what you have to do. Stay safe.
Image source: Instagram/geetabasra