Mother's Day | Meet the Supermoms who do it all

The age of the ‘Supermom’ is here. Women across professions are going about shattering stereotypes and proving that motherhood does not come with strings attached. While it’s not easy, these successful mothers excel at their day jobs but also cherish the joy of motherhood.

On the occasion of Mother’s day, here’s a list of trailblazing mothers who have inspired women everywhere with their grit and ability to versatility:

1. Mary Kom

The feisty Manipuri boxer is the only female to have claimed the World Amateur Boxing title for a record six times and the only boxer (male or female) to win eight World Championship medals.

The 38-year-old mother of three rose to the top of the boxing world rankings in 2019 in the light fly 45-48 kg category. Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, Kom was also nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha and juggles motherhood with her duties as a sitting member of Parliament.

Kom said last year that she was using the lockdown as an opportunity to spend time with her family and enjoyed cooking for her kids, Prince, Khupneivar and Rechungvar.

2. Irom Chanu Sharmila

Manipuri civil rights activist Irom Sharmila, popularly called the “Iron Lady of Manipur” is well-known as a civil rights and political activist.

She went on a 16-year hunger strike to protest the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 that allows security forces in northeast India to search properties without a warrant, arrest people, and use deadly force if there is "reasonable suspicion" that a person is acting against the state. The Independent called her "the world's longest hunger striker" in 2010.

Though her activism has taken a front seat for most of her public life, in 2019, aged 47, she gave birth to twin daughters in Bengaluru, named Nix Shakhi and Autumn Tara.

3. Indra Nooyi

Indian-born American Indra Nooyi has shattered many glass ceilings on her way to running PepsiCo as chief executive officer from 2006 to 2018.

Consistently ranked among the world’s 100 most powerful women, Nooyi, who is a mother to two daughters, has also been included in Forbes’ 2012 World’s Most Powerful Mothers list, showing that being a great business mind does not have to come at the cost of family.

4. Norma Alvares

One of the founding members of the Goa Foundation, Norma Alavares, along with her husband Claude, has been instrumental in the fight to protect the state’s environmental heritage.

The foundation has forced the US-based multinational DuPont to abandon plans to build an environmentally unfeasible factory in the state and won a Supreme Court case preventing the state mining industry from digging in the state until they met certain conditions.

Norma is also the president of People for Animals, an animal support group, and lives with her husband in Parra, Goa with their three children, Rahul, Samir and Milind.