Every mother needs a safe space to confess unholy thoughts. And a mother is allowed to have many, many of them. “The idea of the sacrificing mother,” says mental health professional and sociologist Meenakshi Bhanj Deo, “or maa devi hai notion, worked for the whole system and patriarchy. This creates a lot of pressure on women who want to be a good mother.” So much so that many women go through PTSD because of it.

It distributes emotional and domestic labour disproportionately, burdening the women and even keeping them out of the economy so they remain dependent, and easy to exploit. It also keeps women unhappy, which is good for the economy: They will buy and buy clothes, medication, jewellery, experiences, just anything impulsively to fill the void of feeling un-expressed and unfulfilled. And then buy some more of that which reinforces their identity as a mother.