Actor Rakul Preet Singh has seen the image of strength and sacrifice in her mother, Rini Singh. In our run-up to Mother’s Day on May 12, our special series reflects on the bond celeb kids share with their mums. Born and brought up in Ambala (Punjab), Rini did her master’s degree in economics, followed by BEd. She also taught professionally in school before deciding to take up the role of a homemaker. 

“Being a homemaker is the toughest job. I don’t think this generation, including me, has an iota of skills compared to our mums,” says Rakul.

The actor’s father, Col Kulvinder Singh, is a retired army officer, and Rakul insists that it is “the toughest job to be an army officer’s wife”. “At times, dad was posted at border areas. We didn’t have phones back then, but my mum was fearlessly raising me and my brother. We never felt that our father wasn’t around, or our mother was scared,” she shares.

Rini adds, “I never gave myself time to think about the negative. I kept myself busy and used that time to make my kids learn everything out there.”

Rakul goes on to recall the time when they were in the Northeast for four years. She says, “Dad was posted at the Manipur border. At that time, if we didn’t have anything to do at home, mum would ask us to dance or sing, and she’d record us. Often on weekends, we would travel in convoys to meet dad. Many wouldn’t do it due to the risk involved, but my mum was fearless.”

Ask Rini where she got the courage from, and she says, “Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.”

“Rakul was so confident during Miss India! I never thought she would be comfortable in a bikini, but she did it well. She was just 18, but her thinking was so mature. I feel proud to have given birth to such a strong woman. So many people tell us, ‘Bachcha ho toh Rakul jaisa’.”

“My mum was the one to identify my talent and say I should act and go for Miss India. I would watch the pageant diligently every year, and one day she told me I should apply. I was tomboyish and said I wouldn’t be able to do it, but she was confident. She went with me for my bikini shopping. While dad also never had any reservations, my mum was the one to tell him, ‘It’s her dream and if she wants to do it, we should let her’.”