Your mom knows you inside out, they say. After all, she raised you, nurtured you, and shaped you to become the person you are today. But ask your mother to share what you do for a living and the answers can sometimes be rib-tickling. Ahead of this year’s Mother’s Day (May 14), we got 4 Amazonians and their moms to one of our offices in Bangalore and quizzed them about their children’s roles at Amazon. So does mom know everything? Here’s what we discovered.

Amazonian-Pravar-with-his-mother
Pravar Prakhar from Amazon Fulfilment Center with his mother Rupam

The primary school teacher?

Amazonian Pravar Prakhar’s mother Rupam compares his job to that of a primary school teacher. She’s not off the mark, Pravar quips, as his role entails providing training to managers and team leads at Amazon fulfilment centers. Rupam likes that Pravar is surrounded by talented people at Amazon who drive him to constantly improve. Like most Amazonians, Pravar has picked up peculiar phrases used regularly at Amazon. “He takes ‘Chime’ calls (an Amazon tool for video collaboration) from home and often repeats ‘It’s still Day One’ and ‘show more ownership’ (An Amazon leadership principle) to the team!” says Rupam.

Mrunmaiy Abroal's mother rightly explaining what she does at Amazon
Mrunmaiy Abroal's mother rightly explaining what she does at Amazon

'Making Alexa famous’

Mala Nayankumar Abroal, mother of Amazonian Mrunmaiy Abroal, also says that her daughter is regularly on ‘Chime’ calls while working from home. “It becomes difficult for me to walk behind her to the balcony to pick up clothes for drying,” smiles Mala. Ask her what Mrunmaiy does at Amazon and pat comes the reply, “My daughter talks to the press and is very passionate about making Alexa famous.” Mrunmaiy heads PR for Amazon devices and Alexa, and a major part of that role is driving awareness about around Alexa and Alexa-enabled devices. “I like how Mrunmayi is happy when she’s working,” says Mala.

Amazonians-and-their-Mothers
Kasturi Borah's mother seems to have picked quite a bit and got the answer almost right

‘Raise the bar, dear son’

Our mothers are sharp in registering the common terms, jargons and even Amazon leadership principles that Amazonians regularly use in work-related conversations. Dipa Borah, mother of Amazonian Kasturi Borah, says, “She keeps asking her son and husband to ‘raise the bar’ (read more about what bar-raising means at Amazon here) whenever she feels like they are not doing enough.” So, what does Kasturi do at Amazon? “She writes content that helps sellers on Amazon,” believes Dipa. Kasturi, a senior manager in knowledge management, thinks that’s close enough, except that her work is directed at buyers, not sellers. “Kasturi genuinely likes what she does, and is as enthusiastic about her work now as she was 10 years ago,” says Dipa.

Amazonians-and-their-Mothers
Catch the fun conversation between Amazonian Ankit Bhanot and his mother Manju Sidhu

TV pe kab aaoge?

Amazonian Ankit Bhanot’s mom Manju Sidhu loves the flexibility of hybrid working that Amazon offers all employees. She visualises her son as someone who’s on calls all day, asking people to place advertisements. Manju’s not off the mark given that Ankit is a senior digital manager responsible for activating Amazon communications on TV, digital, print, OOH, and so on. Her big question, “When will I see Ankit in one of these ads?”