Mum's The Word

In a touching tribute, three successful women open up about their unconditional bond with their daughters and what it takes to live by their own rules

They say there’s nothing more complex than a relationship between a mother and daughter. It’s unbreakable, yet constantly evolving. Some of us are dependent on that maternal figure from birth for continuous emotional, professional and mental guidance, while others may spend years battling not to turn into a mirror image of their mother, only to realise one day that you have, in fact, picked up many of their traits and mannerisms.

But when it comes to life lessons, there’s no one we’d trust more than our mums. After all they do know us the best. Most of us have spent our childhood playing dress-up with mum’s borrowed clothes and make-up. We preened and posed in front of the mirror, letting our imagination run wild. More often than not we’d overdo the eye-shadow, or smudge our face with garishly bright lipstick, and smear nail polish all over our hands. Not once did she chide us. Instead of feeding us with impossible beauty standards, she simply allowed us to emulate anyone we fancied – whether it was our teacher, friend, or next-door-neighbour.

Grazia spoke to Shilarna Vaze, Payal Khandwala and Neeta Lulla who revealed their unconditional appreciation for their daughters through letters that inspire them to #BreakAllTheRulesOfBeauty by embracing their flaws with confidence and doing exactly what they love. These twosomes are testament to the fact that there really is nothing stronger than a mother-daughter bond.

TO MY PRECIOUS LITTLE CHIA SEED ZANSKAR,

The day I found out you were a girl, my heart did a little cartwheel. I knew the world required fearless little girls raised by fearless mothers. I also knew that I would like you to learn to balance both your feminine and masculine energies so you would be intuitive and receptive on one side, and bold and courageous on the other.