It is now well accepted that more and more youngsters these days are shying away from the idea of having children. Various surveys support this fact, and the reasons that people give range from financial insecurity to not finding the right partner to simply, "Babies aren't my thing." But conversely, there is also a silent revolution that's taking place. The societal norms that govern a parent-child relationship are gradually being questioned. Many people across the world are giving birth outside of wedlock. And there is also an increasing number of women raising children as single mothers, not because they are divorced or that their husbands have passed away, but because they have no inhibitions about being a solitary parent and embarking on a journey of motherhood all by themselves.

Mumbaikars will now get to hear some of these stories at an event called #MaaHooNaa, organised by Festivelle, a platform that aims to empower women. Actors Shruti Seth and Gul Panag are its co-founders, and Seth tells us, "Our keynote speaker is a film director named Ashima Chibber, who triggered the idea behind this event. We met one fine day and I told her, 'You look rather large,' when she said, 'Yeah, I'm pregnant." I was like, 'Really?' And she said, 'Yeah, I just got fed up of waiting [to have a child] and went to a sperm bank to get myself a good enough donor. I then got myself artificially impregnated, and here I am.' We were all shell-shocked and awestruck because of how quietly she went about doing what she wanted, without any hue and cry. It's an amazing story, to be honest."