‘Parenting is hard enough when the child calls you mum, harder when you are called by your first name’: How stepmothers of today are rewriting narrative

Written by Neha Rathod

There’s no parenting guide for “step motherhood”: only instincts, patience, and a strange mix of love, understanding and restraint.

When a woman marries into a ready-made family, she isn’t just saying yes to a man — she’s stepping into a story already in progress. The script comes with characters who have memories, loyalties, and invisible boundaries. Some days she’s a friend, some days a referee, and often, a quiet witness learning which battles are hers to fight. The only thing constant for stepmothers? No rules — just improvisations of love.

Among the many Pune women who have learnt this art in their own distinct ways, Saaz Aggarwal, in Pune, and Sunita Malhotra, now based in Belgium, are both married to men with children from previous marriages.

Between the