This Mother's Day, we spoke to a working mother whose life revolves around sacrifice, resilience and the hope of giving children a life she never had.
Poonam, who works as a cook in multiple homes while raising two sons, opens about the emotional weight of being a mother who can never afford to stop working.
Poonam's day begins before the sun rises.
At 5.30 every morning, she wakes up, cooks for her family, gets her children ready and leaves for work by 7 am. At noon, she rushes back home, checks on her children, spends whatever little time she can with them and then heads out again for another shift.
By the time she finally returns home at 7 pm, exhaustion has already settled in her bones. But motherhood does not clock out.
"Main unse poochti hoon, aaj kya kiya? (I ask them what they did today?)," she says, while describing her evenings with her sons, 16-year-old Vedant and six-year-old Chinmay.
The time may be limited; the love is not.
Like many working mothers, Poonam constantly battles guilt. Her children sometimes complain that both their parents are too busy to spend time with them or take them out.
"Mujhe bura lagta hai par kya karein? Job bhi zaruri hai (I feel bad but what can we do? Work is important too)," she says.
There is pain in her words but acceptance too. Because when survival becomes the priority, mothers learn to carry guilt quietly.
The hardest part, she says, is not the work itself; it is feeling like she cannot give her children enough time or attention despite trying every single day.
Yet, in the middle of this struggle, Poonam's story carries extraordinary resilience.
After long workdays, she and her husband attend night school. This year, alongside her son, both of them appeared for their Class 10 exams. While her husband could not clear them, Poonam and her son did!
"Hum logon ne night school bhi kiya taaki bachcho ko dikha sake ki hum log padh sakte hain (We attended night school too so we could show our children that we are capable of studying)."
For them, education is not just about marksheets. It's about proving to her children that it is never too late to try again.
Poonam wants something very specific for her children, a life bigger than the one she had.
"Hum nahi padh paaye. Main chahti hoon mere bachche aage jaake padhe aur achhi life jiye (I could not study. I want my children to study ahead and live a good life)."
When stress overwhelms her, she looks at her children's faces and keeps moving forward. "Mujhe apne bachchon ke liye mehnat karna hai (I want to work hard for my children)."
That is the thing about mothers like Poonam.
They carry entire homes on tired shoulders and still somehow find the strength to dream. Not for themselves but for their children.
This Mother's Day, while many celebrate motherhood through gifts and social media posts, women like Poonam will continue doing what they do every day, sacrificing, nurturing, worrying, working and loving endlessly.
Quietly building futures for their children that they may never get to live for themselves.
© 2026