In this deeply reflective conversation, Neha speaks with Nishkka Manglani, a communications professional based in Dubai and mother to 14-year-old Anay, who lives with cerebral palsy. Nishkka takes us through her journey of becoming a parent far earlier than expected, navigating premature birth, NICU trauma, fear-driven medical narratives, and the long road of therapies, relocations, and recalibration.

What unfolds is not a story of “overcoming” disability, but one of perspective shifts — from fear to trust, from control to collaboration, from isolation to community. Nishkka speaks candidly about how caregiving initially shrank her world, how support systems (family, schools, workplaces, healers) became essential to survival, and how the deepest work was not fixing her child, but healing herself. The episode is an honest meditation on care as an ecosystem, the cost of doing it alone, and the quiet wisdom children often offer their parents.

Why You Should Listen

• If you’ve ever felt isolated or overwhelmed in caregiving — visible or invisible
• If parenting hasn’t looked the way you were told it would
• If you’re navigating illness, disability, or long-term care in your family
• If you’re rethinking resilience, strength, and what real support looks like
• If you want a conversation that is grounded, unromanticised, and deeply humane

This episode doesn’t offer platitudes. It offers perspective.

Notable Quotes

• "When Anay was born, I literally shut down.”
• “The medical system just scares the shit out of you, instead of holding you.”
• “It wasn’t about fixing him. It was about unlearning my fear of life.”
• “Caregiving doesn’t become sustainable because you become stronger — it becomes sustainable when support is allowed in.”
• “Just get through today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

Practical Takeaways

• Care is collective: Parenting and caregiving are not individual acts; they require ecosystems — family, schools, workplaces, and communities.
• Fear shrinks lives: Many protective instincts come from fear. Noticing this can be the first step toward expansion.
• Receiving is a skill: Learning to ask for and accept help is as important as giving care.
• Workplaces matter: Flexible, humane work cultures are not perks — they are enablers of caregiving.
• Perspective is practice: Shifting from “life is happening to me” to “life is happening for me” changes how challenges are held.

About the Guest

Nishkka Manglani is a public relations and communications professional based in Dubai. She is the mother of Anay, a teenager with cerebral palsy, and brings lived insight into caregiving, inclusion, alternative healing, and work-life integration. Nishkka speaks openly about fear, support systems, and the inner work that caregiving demands, offering a grounded and deeply compassionate lens on parenting and partnership.

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