According to the publisher Shailesh Bharatwasi, this might be the first original work in Hindi on motherhood and parenting. Written by Anu Singh Choudhary, a 35-year-old media professional whose Neela Scarf was among the most talked-about Hindi books of 2014, Mamma ki Diary looks at the larger story of the urban working mother through the writer’s own experiences.

The book covers a range of themes around modern Indian motherhood, from big ones like conflicts between career and parenting to specific issues like tantrums or post-partum depression. Talking to women all around her (“parks, coffee shops, school”) consolidated what had been her personal notions about motherhood in the context of a changing society, Choudhary says. “I realised that motherhood for this generation is so much about learning new skills. My mother didn’t drive, but I drive. She could never think of travelling alone with the children, but I do. It’s the men whose patterns of life have not changed.”