Love step by step

Mumbai-based Pooja Pillai on making her way through mommyhood with baby Freya

- Kriselle Fonseca

After a four-year-long stint as head of school at Toddler's Den, an early learning school, Pooja Pillai dives into a new and exciting project being mum to 9.5-month-old Freya. In a no-holds-barred conversation with M&B, the Mumbai-based mama keeps it real as she opens up about finding her footing as a young new mum about town. Read her story in her own words....

YOU, ME AUR HUM

“Vinay and I met in New York when we were studying there. We bonded as friends and that friendship grew into love, and to this day, maintain that we are best friends first, and then husband and wife. I’ve wanted a baby for the longest time—I’ve always considered myself a family person but did not feel ready, until I just reached a point in my life where I felt like it was time.

“Luckily for us, once we planned to start a family, it was not too long before we conceived. We found out in Maldives when we were there for a holiday. Ironically, even though it was planned, it was still a surprise. A missed period compelled me to take a pregnancy test, and that’s when I discovered I was pregnant—I was over the moon. When Vinay woke up, I broke the news to him and he was just as excited. We took the rest of our trip to just soak in the bliss. There was just this sense of calm and readiness for this new phase in our lives, our new beginning.

BUMP TO BIRTH