She has dabbled in various careers, but all along, her jobs have had something to do with communication, interacting with people, storytelling, expressing, and writing. City-based writer, blogger and communications professional, Reshma Krishnamurthy, is now onto a new project – Mums and Stories (www.facebook.com/mumsandstories).
According to Reshma, who has an educational background in psychology, philosophy and journalism, “Mums and Stories started out in October 2015, as an experimental platform on social media. I have loved featuring interesting people, including celebrities for talk shows, during my career as an RJ with FM Rainbow for seven years. Through my pregnancy and parenting, as a writer, I began connecting with mums to understand my own dilemmas and writing about them for others. It started as a small initiative where I asked my son’s friend’s mothers (my son is aged six) to share their stories with me. It was obviously difficult to convince them as I was asking for people to share a slice of their life. Somehow, with the title of a stay-at-home mom and blogger-writer, something kept telling me that I could reach out to more individuals. Slowly, I realised that this could be made into a good publishing platform where mums connect, read stories, share their own journey (on motherhood or about their mothers), and feel good.”
Stating that her project is aimed at “giving relevant status to all those mums who are never asked what happens in their lives,” she adds: “It is almost taken for granted that mothers are busy and they have set responsibilities. Their aspirations, likings or dreams are hardly counted. And it is these stories that I aspire to write about and share to inspire other mothers.”
She says: “This is the perfect place and opportunity to pay tribute to that lovely woman who gave her everything to raise you and sharing her story is a way of thanking her and, most importantly, recognising her efforts.”
As of now, they have 43 stories on Facebook, which is soon to go up on their upcoming website. She informs: “We have had celebrities as well as mothers who are not in the limelight (with interesting stories), featured on our platform. From acid attack fighter Laxmi to swimmers such as Bhakti Sharma and Nisha Millet, well known dancers like Madhu Nataraj on her mother - Maya Rao, Nidhi Tiwari from Women Beyond Boundaries and theatre person Maya Krishna Rao and her mother Bhanumathi Rao, there are so many inspiring stories we’ve had shared. We’ve even had a story of a speech and hearing impaired Bharatanatya dancer and her mum being shared.”
Interestingly, storytelling comes quite easily to Reshma who has worked on and off as a storyteller and even now writes stories for her own son. However, she admits that she’s had some hurdles to face on this mission of hers. “The challenges have been plenty. It has been a one-woman show so far. Co-coordinating with interviewees according to their convenience to share stories, getting the facts right, and presenting it in a positive manner so that it connects with other mums, is all very important.”
That said, she is looking forward to connecting with more like-minded mothers and of course expanding her reach in the days to come.
(Passions features people who have veered off the beaten track)
