Actor-couple Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee are currently in Varanasi for the mundan (tonsure) ceremony of their two daughters.

“I last came here in 2019. Tab bachchon ke liye mannat maangi thi, toh wapas toh aana hi tha. Also, when you are connected with spirituality, you get a different feel and vibe here,” Choudhary tells us.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2011, welcomed their two daughters last year — Lianna in April and Divisha in November. Since the former was not doing well, they performed her mundan in Mumbai itself but carried her shaved hair for immersion in the holy river.

“We decided to do Divisha’s mundan in Varanasi and submerse both our daughters’ hair in the holy river,” says Choudhary. The ritual was held at the Dashashwamedh Ghat.

Bonnerjee, in fact, has a special and strong connection with the holy city. “My nani used to live here, so I have visited a lot and have strong memories related to the city, its narrow lanes, temples and ghats. A lot has changed since then. Ghats and temples ka nazaara hi alag hai,” she ends.

On their recent visit to Delhi – and in the little time they had – Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee visited Janpath. “I had really hoped I could go see Banjara Market. But I only got a day to spend in Delhi,” said Debina. This was the first time that Gurmeet and Debina were travelling without their daughters – Lianna and Divisha.

Talking about their trip with their kids, Gurmeet says, “Even when we went out for short trips, we always travelled with them. This time around, it felt like we are on a date after a long time.”

Debina says that the only advice they got from friends and family after they learnt that the two would be travelling without kids was “aaj raat achhe se sona”. “We have so many sleepless nights now. Gurmeet is with one kid in one room and I am with another in a different room. In case one wakes up, she cries so loudly that the other one also gets up. I don’t remember when was the last that we got uninterrupted sleep. But now that I am in Delhi, I don’t know how I will sleep without them,” she adds.

While Gurmeet has been shooting, Debina hasn’t resumed regular work after the birth of her kids. “I am in no hurry to start work. I have done a lot of work, and this is the time I can take to be with my kids. As of now, I enjoy creating social media content. I try to be as real as possible. I present my daily struggles, dilemmas as a young mom,” says Debina.

Unsolicited advice is something that every new parent has to deal with, and Gurmeet says that they meet people every day who have suggestions to offer on how to raise their kids. He adds, “From neighbours to helpers, everyone has something or the other to tell us about our kids, but Debina is very particular. She does a lot of research on every small thing when it comes to the kids.”

Earlier this month, actor-couple Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Choudhary welcomed their second child, about eight months after their first child, daughter Lianna, was born. Their younger daughter, who was born “sooner than due”, in the seventh month of pregnancy has been getting extra care and love from the parents. The mum of two chats with us about bringing up her little ones.

Recalling the time when she was taken to the hospital before her due date, the actor says, “My health wasn’t in the best condition. Everyone, including the doctor, advised me to go ahead with the delivery by C-section, rather than wait and make things complicated.” She adds how she continues to worry about her younger daughter’s health. “It took the doctors a long time to bring her out. I was worried about her even when I held her for the first time,” adds Bonnerjee.

However, the actor has a good reason to celebrate now that her daughter is home from NICU. “The baby is doing fine now. Every other day, she has to go to the hospital for checkup and monitoring,” says the actor.

While the toughest of moments have passed, Bonnerjee is still extremely cautious around her newborn. “She is very tiny. We have to be extremely careful around her. Mujhe apni beti ko kisi aur ko dene mein ghabrahat hoti hai, because she is so delicate. I worry ke kuch ho na jaye,” she says.

The Laal Ishq actor recently posted pictures of her swollen feet and postpartum belly on social media, sharing details of her recovery phase. “It has just been ten days and my body is healing quite fast. Jo problems pehle ho rahe the, ab nahin hain. During the last few days of my pregnancy, it was very difficult for me to move around because there was too much water in my stomach. Now, I have started getting massages and am following a good diet that would help in recovery. I have this maqsad to get back in shape, which is giving me a lot of motivation. I’m happy that my stomach has also gone back considerably in just a week,” she shares.

Debina Bonnerjee and her husband, actor Gurmeet Choudhary, welcomed their baby girl, Lianna in April this year. The actress clearly seems to be relishing her new role as she often posts pictures with her bundle of joy. The journey to motherhood, however, has not been an easy one.

Debina says, “We got married in 2011 but back then, having a baby meant giving away my career. I also had apprehensions ki break liya toh career stake par aa jaayega. The plan was to find stability first before taking another step.”

The desire to embrace parenthood, however, did arise one day – five years ago. Debina, recalls, “I was part of a show and couldn’t quit it midway. So that resulted in a further delay of about two years. Soon after that, I decided to pursue motherhood aggressively. But jab aap nahi chaahte ho tab bohot kuchh hota hai, aur jab chaahte ho tab nahi hota hai.”

It was during the phase when the couple was trying everything possible to become parents that Debina got to know of her health issues. “When the lockdown happened, I was undergoing treatments and shuttling between doctors, which was time-consuming and monetarily draining,” shares Debina, who was diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis during that time. “It’s an irreversible and incurable condition. I changed my lifestyle completely. I took steps to reduce the accumulation of toxins in my body and also stopped eating outside completely,” she says.

She continues, “The fight to become a mother lasted five years. I failed five times during the process, which included three IUIs and two IVFs. I also tried alternative therapies, like acupuncture and flower therapy. I would cry all the time because I held myself responsible for the failure. The feeling of reaching a dead-end is devastating. ”

The one person she gives all credit to is her husband Gurmeet. She elaborates, “My work, workouts, and having the right life partner kept me sane. It’s not a solo journey. The responsibility of having a child shouldn’t rest on just a woman’s shoulders; it’s on the couple. It’s a joint journey. Every time, I faced failure, I would talk it out with my husband. Gurmeet was always positive and made me believe that it was our journey.”

She shares, “I receive a lot of emails from women telling me that their husbands aren’t supportive, but they want to go through this journey to salvage their marriage. I want to tell them that if your husband isn’t with you now, a kid will not bring him back. Bring a child into this world only if your relationship is strong. The child is the harvest of love. Everything is worth it with a solid partner.”

A few months ago, Debina was trolled for not holding her baby Lianna properly in a picture that she shared on Instagram. Dismissing the incident, “I know what all I have gone through to become a mother. Why will I hold my baby in a way that she could fall? I would get upset initially over such comments, but then I realised that Lianna, my husband, and my family need my attention, not frivolous things like these. Having said that, I am mindful about what I post now.”

Debina can’t bear to be away from her little daughter. “I miss Lianna when I am not around her. The minute I reach home, I wash my hands and rush to her.”

While she does not rule out returning to acting, she is in no hurry to pick just about any project. “I am getting offers, but I am waiting for a good project to make a comeback with,” she says. “I have been shooting regularly for my brands, including the day I was discharged from the hospital. At some point, life has to be led normally,” adds the actress.

It’s Debina Bonnerjee’s first Mother's Day today as one herself, and she finds the feeling extremely special. The actor, married to actor Gurmeet Choudhary, gave birth to a girl on April 3. They have named her Lianna. “Being a mother feels awesome. Life changes a lot after it. All that you used to think about without batting an eye, now those thoughts come keeping the well-being of the child first. Be it a trip or anything else, everything is planned according to her,” she says.

The 35-year-old shares that the toughest part about being a parent is understanding what the child’s cries mean. “What does our child think, what does she want, what do her cries mean... you have to understand that, right from day one. Now, I can understand my mother, who always tries to figure out what’s going on in my mind, what I want to eat, what I’m thinking. She wants to understand it even before I think about it or can spell it out,” Bonnerjee elaborates.

She adds that the only time she is able to relax as a new mum is when her baby is with her own mother. “I don’t think I would be able to do anything without her parenting tips. My mother is the anchor of my life right now. I don’t think I would be able to sleep at all. It’s because my mother is there that I can. If I can trust anybody else with my child, it’s her. When my baby is with her, I am able to relax,” Bonnerjee tells us.

Has her and Choudhary’s daily routine changed after becoming parents? Not really, she says. “I am trying to incorporate my discipline in my child right from day one. We are early morning risers and go to sleep early. The first few weeks, she would be awake the whole night and sleep during the day. Now we put her to sleep at night, and wake her up at 6 in the morning, and give her a bath. Discipline is very important,” she ends.

Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Choudhary couldn’t hold back tears of joy when they held their baby girl for the first time. The new parents say that their life has taken a complete turn with the arrival of their baby girl. Debina shares, “It took some time for the whole feeling to sink in. However, I was fully prepared, and I knew what to do. It was funny that Gurmeet and I cried so much when we saw her for the first time. Our tears of joy wouldn’t stop. Both sets of grandparents are on top of the world. All of us are thrilled that it’s a girl.”

Gurmeet says that he wants to be the best father to his daughter. “I have always loved having kids around but seeing my own baby brought a different level of happiness for both of us. I want to be a hero to my daughter. People have been talking to me about the father-daughter connection and I have been feeling that. I have been smiling throughout,” adds the elated father.

Gurmeet further shares that his bond with Debina strengthened during the pregnancy. “We were merely 18 years old when we moved to Mumbai. We got married later and have been together for a long time. During the pregnancy, I became very protective of Debina. I used to constantly think about her wellbeing,” he says, adding that he has been on paternity leave for a month now. “I have left projects and the ones which I had already committed to, I took a break from them. I felt it was the right thing to do. I am lucky that the people I am working with understood this,” he shares.

Talking about the name of the baby, Debina shares, “We are still deciding on that. We have decided on the first letter of the name and will finalise a name soon, too.”

Actor-couple Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Choudhary welcomed their first child, a daughter, on April 3 after 11 years of marriage, and Bonnerjee says that the feeling of becoming a parent hasn’t hit her yet. She’s emotional, overwhelmed and anxious, all at the same time. She admits that her pregnancy was difficult, but it was all worth it.

“I have a sense of anxiety combined with a total sense of calmness, if that even makes sense! I understand my own mother so much better now because the emotion of holding your child and the protective instinct as a mother to your infant is something you can only comprehend after you have your baby,” Bonnerjee tells us. 

So, what is the name of their new baby? “Pehle toh kaafi ladai jhagde chal rahe,” Choudhary says without revealing anything. He adds, “But we’ve reached an agreement now. We’ll reveal it when we feel like it.”

The couple met each other when they were 18 years old and have been married for almost a decade. For Bonnerjee, her daughter is her “little miracle” as she walked down the arduous path of conceiving for a long time. But Choudhary says that he waited for the right time to have a child.

He says, “Mere mum and dad ne mujhe humesha pyaar se rakha hai, but kyunki hum middle-class family se the, mujhe bahut saari cheezein mil nahin payi. My parents did the best they could, but as a kid, I wished things were a little different. When I started working, I used to discuss it with Debina too and told her ki bachche tab honge jab meri wo aukaat ho. If my baby wants something, I should never need to worry about it.” 

Finally, they mention that their house is flooded with “rishtedaar and khaandan” just a week after the baby arrived. “It feels as if there’s a wedding,” they conclude.

Bharti Singh, who was expecting her first child with husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa, took to social media on Sunday to share that they have welcomed a baby boy (left). Bharti took to her Instagram handle and posted a picture from her maternity shoot.

In the caption, she revealed, “It’s a BOY.” Following the revelation, several celebs shared their wishes for the couple.

Another TV couple, Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee, welcomed a baby girl on the same day (right). The couple shared a video giving a first glimpse of their baby’s little hand.