Before You Were My Mother

Ibemhal, 59, left her home in Manipur and moved to Nepal after her marriage. She now lives in New York. Her life has been dedicated to raising her two daughters while trying to find her own identity in new places. Ibemhal’s eldest daughter, 30-year-old Prasuna, longs to understand her mother, the person. Who is Ibemhal beyond her identity as a mother and a wife? What was her life like in Manipur? Their bond has been shaped by the conflict-ridden socio-political environment in which Prasuna was raised, Nepali society’s patriarchal expectations, and years of living apart. When Ibemhal returns to Nepal to visit Prasuna in 2020, they take a trip to Manipur to visit Ibemhal’s mother.