This Janmashtami was extremely special for Karishma Tanna, as she finally fulfilled her dream of dressing her son as Krishna. “I loved dressing my baby as Krishna. I am looking forward to showing him the pictures once he grows up,” she says.

Karishma had her baby in July. The actress had said in the past that motherhood was not something she instinctively felt drawn to. Today, after welcoming her son Ved, her perspective has changed.

“It feels amazing. When I delivered, I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ It’s such a different feeling — there’s a sense of responsibility and an emotional connection. You feel like you’ve delivered a part of your own body. Motherhood is not easy, but it’s beautiful,” she explains.

As she enjoys this phase, Karishma adds, “I have understood the meaning of strength. The strength women have during delivery is what real strength is. If you can survive this and if you can do this, trust me, you have the superpower.”

Motherhood has also made her more conscious of the privileges she has, particularly when she thinks about women who do not have the same support system. “I am grateful and I thank God for giving me this life. I’m taking my privileges very seriously and I’m not taking any of those for granted. I have a baby now in my life and I feel for all the toddlers. I feel for all the mothers, especially those who are underprivileged, and I want to help in whichever way possible,” she says.

For Karishma, accepting the postpartum low rather than feeling guilty about it became important. She opens up, "I had already prepared my mind for postpartum, that it is real, and I am strong. However, after all this, it still hits you, and it is not in your control. You still have to go through it."

“I would just want to tell all the women: you can’t judge yourself and put yourself on that guilt trip. Whatever you’re doing, it’s just perfect for you and your baby. A happy mother leads to a happy child,” she says, adding, “The kind of strength required to be a mother, to do things after you’ve had stitches, gone through multiple emotions and experienced hormonal changes — from the highest of happy hormones to the lowest — is unimaginable. There are times when you find yourself crying over every little thing, and yet you keep going.”

Karishma recently revealed her baby’s name as Ved Tanna Bangera. She says she and her husband, Varun, considered several names before settling on Ved.

“We had shortlisted two or three names, but we were still confused. I was waiting for that inner voice to guide me. We finally settled on Ved because we wanted something rooted. I wanted a Sanskrit name with a powerful meaning,” she recalls.

Karishma, who wants to get back to work now, says she is learning to organise her days around her baby. “I recently had a shoot and I had to plan it accordingly. I was stressing out about how to pump, how I would manage. But as a mother, it just comes to you and I managed it well,” she adds.