Soha Ali Khan: Watching Inaaya grow is scary, exciting

Actress Soha Ali Khan says watching her two-year-old daughter Inaaya Naumi Kemmu grow is scary as well as exciting, adding that she is at an age where she is absorbing everything and repeating things. "I want her to learn and grow all the time. You know, this is the age where you can see that she is absorbing everything, she is repeating things. It is a scary time as well as an exciting time because she is exposed to so much. She is not just exposed to me and I would like to think that I am the best influencer on her but I am sure that I am not perfect, so, you know, school, other children, other parents, staff, other family members, everyone is contributing to her development at this point," Soha told IANS. "So this is the time where everything you say or do can expose her to matters because it's all being absorbed and forming who she is which is why I think what she sees on a screen whether it's a tablet, whether it's a TV, whether it's a phone, matters because I want her to see what is appropriate and what is responsible and what is right and what will help her grow as opposed to not engage her," added the actress, who became part of the launch of edutainment app VOOT Kids recently. Soha, who is married to actor Kunal Kemmu, asserted that motherhood changes ones life completely. "I used to wake up at noon and have lunch straight-away. Now, I'm up at like before 7 and I literally like pass out at night. I don't go to bed but by like 10.30 - 11, I'm exhausted. Often, I can't sleep at 11 because you have a social commitment, you have a professional engagement... I think that women are used to wearing multiple caps but I know that being a mother, being a wife, being a daughter or being a sister, you are required to be all those things and then you're required to work, fulfill your professional commitments," she pointed out. The "Rang De Basanti" actress continued: "Then where's the time for me? You have to carve out that time for yourself as well. So, that me time has become very precious to me. It's all about getting balance of course your child becomes your priority, more than work, more than your husband, more than anything else, your child comes first and for the first formative years, it has to be like that or it should be like that I feel personally and then of course those things that are important to you, you strike a balance with and you try and have it all." Has motherhood made you more responsible and more aware about the things going around the society? "I would like to think that I was aware about certain things in the environment... I think that when you have your own child, you become, you know a little bit more particular. For example, I've always said, don't burst firecrackers at Diwali but this year I was going house to house saying 'if you wake up my child then you'll have me to deal with'. I'm not afraid now and I'm not embarrassed because I feel like my child deserves the best and you know I think that when you are armed with that kind of self-righteous anger or you're really protective about your child then you don't worry about getting involved to make a difference for her benefit," she said.