Newlywed Anshula Kapoor shared an emotional tribute to her late mother, Mona Shourie Kapoor, revealing how her absence was felt on her wedding day. Taking to social media on Thursday (July 9), Anshula posted a video featuring childhood photographs with her mother alongside moments from her wedding.
In the video, she opened up on how planning her wedding unexpectedly became a constant reminder of the person she wished could have been by her side. "This is me and this is my mom. This picture was taken on my fourth birthday and over the years it has somehow become the picture I always come back to whenever I need to feel close to her."
She admitted that while she expected wedding preparations to revolve around celebrations, they instead brought back memories of her mother. "I thought wedding planning would mostly be about flowers, outfits and guest lists," she wrote.
Anshula continued, "I didn't expect it to be filled with moments where all I wanted was my mom. I wanted to ask her questions, I wanted to see her face when she saw me as a bride. Mostly though, I just wanted one of her hugs."
Wanting to keep her mother's memory close, Anshula revealed that she created a customised perfume during her bachelorette trip to Seoul, South Korea. Inspired by the fragrance she associated with her mother, the perfume became a personal way of honouring her on her wedding day.
"She gave the kind of hugs that made everything feel okay. So, on my bachelorette in Seoul, I did something I'll treasure forever. I tried to turn this memory into a scent because on my wedding day, there was always going to be that one hug missing."
She added, "I wore this perfume hoping that I'd feel like she was still there beside me and this is the closest I'll get to having her there."
Along with the video, Anshula shared a note describing how scent can preserve memories and emotions.
"People say scent is the strongest trigger for memory. So before my wedding, I wondered...Could a fragrance hold a feeling? Could it remind me of a hug? Could it make me feel close to someone I missed? I don't remember every little detail anymore. But I remember how safe I felt in Maa's arms. I remember the comfort of her hugs, and being close enough to catch the faintest trace of her perfume."
Anshula recently married her longtime partner, Rohan Thakkar, in an intimate ceremony attended by close family members and friends.
She is the daughter of film producer Boney Kapoor and his first wife, Mona Shourie Kapoor. Mona passed away on March 25, 2012, at the age of 48 after battling cancer, just weeks before the release of Arjun Kapoor's debut film, Ishaqzaade.
