From CEO to MOM: A sneak peek into the mother of all offers

This Mother’s Day, our CEO Ankur Warikoo spent his Sunday at home, but not his own.

He gave a woman a bouquet of flowers and a basket of her favourite fruits and made her day, but that woman wasn’t his wife. Or his mother.

Yes, Ankur Warikoo was with another woman. In fact, he sent her off in a chauffeur driven car to get pampered at the Sheraton Spa, while he took care of all the household chores for the day.

Ankur Warikoo became a mother for a day!

He drove off to Kaushambi, the home of Anita Jain, a homemaker. As Ankur greeted Anita with her favourite fruits and flowers, she broke into a big smile.

Deviating from the usual Mother’s Day campaigns…

We came up with this idea in particular because, a mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. If a mother could have anything on Mother’s Day, she’d probably just want to spend more time with her children. Mothers need a day out, a break from their daily routine. A day where they can put their needs first, guilt-free. So guess who decided to step in…

CEO for 364 days, mother for 1 day

We asked people to nominate their moms (mominate) for a relaxing day out. We decided to give one lucky mother, exactly that, at zero cost, but with a special twist — -our CEO Ankur Warikoo — -stepping into her shoes for a day while she enjoyed an all-expense-paid day out, where she got her own chauffeur-driven car, pampered at a spa, had lunch at the Sheraton Hotel, New Delhi, with her whole family and much more.

The winner takes it all

After going through 735 nominations, we finally picked a winner-Prashant Jain-who mominated his mother, Anita. Prashant touched us with his story about how he doesn’t remember the last time his mother stepped out of the house and got a break, and spends most of her time taking care of her ailing mother. Her daughters are abroad while Prashant lives in Gurgaon.

Ankur talks about motherhood

Talking about the initiative, Ankur says, “I don’t know a greater love than that of a mother. After hearing about the idea, I jumped at it. Mothers don’t really care for expensive or fancy gifts, all they want is love and family time. Since I could personally see to it that at least one mother got her wish granted, I decided that nothing would stop me.”

While Prashant’s mother enjoyed a relaxing day at the spa, Ankur stayed home with Prashant and his father, and took on Prashant mother’s role the best he could.

Tea and tête-à-tête

“When I found out that Ankur wanted to take on my role, I laughed and handed him a big list of to dos, and he did them all perfectly,” Anita laughs, adding, “He gave my mother her medicines, made tea for my family over an animated conversation, among other things. They loved him, and I enjoyed getting pampered at the Sheraton Hotel spa. This is my first pedicure and I loved it. This is one Mother’s Day I won’t forget for a long time to come, thanks to nearbuy.”

The day ended with laughter, some happy tears and a satisfying family lunch at Dakshin, Sheraton Hotel. “We were delighted to be a part of this dedicated initiative by nearbuy for Mother’s Day and to host their special guest for a luxury experience at Sheraton New Delhi Hotel. Every mother deserves the best and this is our small contribution,” says Benita Sharma, General Manager from Sheraton Hotel, New Delhi.

All’s well that ends well?

Did Ankur manage to successfully take on the toughest role of all-being a mother? Did Anita manage to enjoy herself without stressing about home? How did Anita’s mother react on not finding her around? We’ve got it all on film! Be among the first to catch all the action here.